Darién National
Park, which covers 579.000 hectares of land, was established in 1980. It is
the largest national park, not only in Panama, but also in all Central America,
and lies in the Southeast of the country, extending along virtually the whole
of the border with Colombia. Given its international importance, its was declared
a UNESCO World heritage Site in 1981 and Biosphere reserve in 1982. the protected
area rises form the beaches, mangrove swamps and coastal lagoons of the Pacific
coastline to the premontane rainforests at the top of Cerro Tacarcuna. At 1.845
meters, Cerro Tacarcuna is the highest point in the national park, located on
the continental watershed of the Serranìa del Darién (Darién River Mountain
Range), a few kilometers from the Caribbean at the northeastern end of the country.
Stretching
from on end to another there is an impressive mantle of moist and very moist
tropical forests, crossed by a large network of rivers and streams. The main
large and small mountain ranges in the park are of volcanic origin, and tors
and lava that are testimony to its agitated past are still to be seen. The Serranìa
del Darién to the North, the Pirre and Setule range in the southern part and
the Serranìa del Sapo and Cordillera del Jurado in the South are its most significant
morphological features. The region's most important rivers, such as the Tuira,
Balsas, Sambù and Jacque, rise in the park. The main landscape features are
the entire valleys of moist and very moist tropical forests.
The forest
canopy, in itself very high, is overlooked by enormous specimens of cuipos (Cavanillesia
platanifolia), which flower herald the coming of the reins, in these jungles,
where epiphytes, bromeliads and orchids abound, there are over 40 botanical
endemisms, such as the `escalera de mono` (Bauhinia spp.) and the `bejuco de
agua` (Doliocarpus olivaceus). Its strategic geographical situation makes it
a stopping place for wildlife from North and South America. There are many invertebrate
and vertebrate enemisms. Seven mammals, including the giant pocket gopher (Orthogeomys
Dariénsis) and the fox (Marmosops invictus) are only found here.
Of the more than 450 recorded bird species, 5 are endemic to the region, including
the treerunner (Margarornis bellulus) and the green-naped tanager (tangara fucosa).
In Darién, there are viable populations of over 56 species that are threatened
or endangered in the rest of America. They include the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja)
the largest population in the world occurs here), the shy tapir (Tapirus bairdii)
and the five cat species: jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Felis concolor) ocelot
(Felis pardalis), margay (Felis wiedii) and jaguarondi (Felis yagouaroundi).
Three pre -Colombian native groups live in Darién: the Kunas, who are traditional
villages in the towns of Paya and Puculu at the foot of the sacred mountain
Cerro Tarcuna; the Emberà, traditional riverside inhabitants of the Choco, and
the Wounaan, who are very close linguistically and culturally to the Emberà.
Afro-Darién populations, with their wonderful traditions, have for centuries
lived alongside the region's natives creating an ethno-cultural mosaic without
precedent throughout Central America.
The Cana Environmental Center and Scientific Station complex, located in the
heart of the park in what was formerly the famous Espiritu Santo or Cana goldmines,
is an important birfwatching site. Many natural and historic tracks are kept
open all year round in this part of the national park, which is run by the National
Conservation (Asociacion Nacional para la Conservacion de la Naturaleza or ANCON)
DARIEN NATIONAL PARK