Panama Brings 50% of its Ocean Waters Under Protection

Panama‘s President Laurentino Cortizo & Minister of Environment Milciades added 36.058 square miles to the Banco Volcan marine protected area in the Caribbean.

 This falls within the framework of Our Ocean Conference on March 2-3,2023 in Panama City.

The "Banco Volcan Managed Resources Area" is a region with exceptional natural resources, including deep mountain ranges and great biodiversity.

This region contains a wide range of migratory and protected or endangered species.

This area was formed in 2015 to maintain the health of the oceans.

This new expansion has not only led Panama to conserve more than 54% of its territorial waters but will also buffer climate change, and protect Panama's deep sea mountain habitat.

It also safeguards fauna from human intervention including several fish and invertebrates of high commercial value, such as the Caribbean spiny lobster.

Action like this can have a dire impact on the protection of the indigenous and Afro-Caribbean coastal communities of Panama.

Héctor Guzman is a marine biologist at STRI and co-founder of MigraMar

“ With the protection of more than half of its seas, including extensive ocean reserves on both sides of the Isthmus, Panama is not only ensuring the conservation of its marine biodiversity and the livelihoods of the people who depend on these ecosystems in the long term but is also positioned to lead a much more ambitious regional effort.“ -  Héctor Guzman

 For nearly 20 years, STRI has provided the Panamanian government with the scientific underpinnings needed to establish additional marine protected areas.

Both the Coiba National Park in 2004 and the Las Perlas archipelago in 2007, along the coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean were built as a result to protect it.

Marine protected areas like Banco Volcan in the Caribbean and Cordillera de Coiba in the Pacific. were established  in order to help Panama conserve 13% of its oceans.

STRI oversaw the design and scientific basis for the establishment of these first two oceanic protected regions.

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