Tourism and Conservation in Panama

Panama’s wildlife is just stunning – 10’444 different types of plant species, 678 fern species, 1’500 varieties of trees, as well as 255 species of mammals and 972 indigenous bird species. There is a history behind this rich biodiversity, let’s start from the very beginning: Everything started 65 million years ago; the two continents, North and South America were joined by a land bridge, as we know it from today. Then, around 50 million years ago, the continents split apart, and for millions of years they kept separate from one another. This allowed mother nature to create unique and fascinating landscapes in both continents. The land of South America soon gave rise to a numerous species, such as bird families, neo-tropical rodents, iguanas, frogs and more. In North America, animals such as horses, deer, raccoons, squirrels and mice flourished, as the continent repeatedly collided with Eurasia.

Three million years ago happened the world change!   The natural history for both continents: The land bridge of Panama arose. Migration started and species from North America went south and from South America north, where they found their homes in the lush forest and wetlands along the isthmus. The great variety of plant species created the perfect conditions for nourishing wildlife including the Jaguar.

‘Yaguará’ is a Panamanian Foundation that works towards the conservation of  wild cats. They are studying the Jaguar’s behavior through placing cameras and GPS Collars, in order to develop conservation in the jaguar habitats. They also directly work with the local communities, which has proved to be very important and successful to immediately apply conservation of this beautiful mammals.

Ricardo Moreno who has been nominated by National Geographic as an emergent explorer, is a Panamanian biologist and one of the the leader of  Fundación Yaguara. He fights for the conservation of the Jaguar and the Puma in Panama, and says that “the situation is critical, and there is no time to wait. It is important to create a pacific cohabitation between mankind and the felines.”

The conflicts between Felines and humans arose because their natural prey was scarce, due to human activities such as hunting and habitat occupation, threrefore the cats attacked livestock’s. Unfortunately, people used to “solve” the situation by just sacrificing the felines, and this caused a serious fall in jaguar’s populations in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and Panama. Several studies showed that if the cats had enough natural prey, they wouldn’t attack livestock.

“Yaguará” started a program which gives a monetary compensation to the owners of domestic animals, if their animals were preyed.  They also support the local communities by educating in learning to live with the jaguars and avoid killing them.   The communities could take benefit from conserving the natural habitats and supporting the trend in the tourism industry:  Adventure and Conservation.

Academic and Educational adventures are a way to discover Panama and learn about the efforts of several scientists, guides and tour companies that promote the restoration of our natural habitats.   In conjunction with different organizations such as STRI, Fundacion Avifauna, APTSO, YAGUARA among others EcoCircuitos is promoting Tourism, Conservation and Education.

Explore with the experts in the field and discover a country full of contrasts.  You can contribute to the conservation and efforts of this organization and others by traveling responsable.

For more information contact us info@ecocircuitos.com

Darien Jungle Expedition in Pirre

Experience with a local team of expert guides a unique jungle adventure in Panama. Our Darien Expedition is a 5 days adventure that starts in Panama City where we will take the Pan- American Highway towards the eastern side of the of Panama to the world famous forest of the Darien National Park.

This National Park of 579,000 ha (1,400,000 acres) is situated in the eastern part of the country, bordering on Colombia and is the largest protected nature area of Central America and the Caribbean. Its prodigious nature includes mountain ranges reaching 2,500 m (7,500 ft),  wide range of habitats: sandy beaches, rocky coasts, mangroves, freshwater marshes, palm forest swamps and lowland and upland moist tropical forest.   Wetland forest along the Chucunaque and Tuira rivers is often covered by pure stands of cativo, this species being the most utilized timber tree in the region, and mangroves along the Pacific coast.    Also Darien contains a Premontane and montane forests, with several types of botanically interesting ecosystem including cloud forest and the elfin forest of Cerro Pirre.

Darien National park is home  of many extraordinary plant species that are unique in the world as well as some amazing beautiful animals, like the Jaguar (Felis Onca) and the Harpy Eagle (Harpia Harpyja).

This park is an adventure site that can give you unforgettable memories and experiences. The forest offers activities bird watching, hiking and jungle trekking, wildlife observation, 4 x 4 expeditions and boat trips on the river. The local communities of the Emberá and Wounan will share their wisdom, culture and traditions with the visitors.

For complete itinerary and details, please contact us at info@ecocircuitos.com  or our partner wholesalers

Interview broadcast from IGLTA conference in Madrid to Annie Young

Interview broadcast from IGLTA conference in Madrid to Annie Young

Check this interesting broadcast where Annie Young J. discuss about trends of the tourism industry in Madrid with Tim and John from Out Radio.

Ecocircuitos Panama: getting ready for the green season

Panama is worth seeing throughout the year! Not only the dry season is a good time to travel to the “bridge of the world”- as Panama is called by locals. Many people think that the green season is the better time to explore this country since- as the name suggests- everything is green and blossoms. An additional benefit is that hotels and tours are available much better since there are fewer tourists in the green season. Tours like hiking and kayaking can be more worth seeing when the plants and trees unfold their whole splendor. But also City-, sightseeing- and rafting tours are a good way to enjoy Panamanian “winter” since it is only a term indicating that it rains more often than on the high season. Not that it rains all day every day.

by Marius Leidig

PANAMA LA VIEJA – EcoCircuitos Panama

Plaza de Francia – EcoCircuitos

Walking Casco Viejo

Plaza Bolivar

Panama CAnal

A short time travel to Embera –Quera Village

just a little dancing

EcoTeam

Dugout canoe

boat tour to Gatun community

Tour in a local community

Fish and chips

By Marius

Yesterday, Laura, Roberto, Marc Fabio and I went on a site inspection to an indigenous village of the Embera. After a one hour drive from Panama City, we parked our car at an unimposing parking lot next to the street. Until that moment, I was not very impressed of our trip but what came next changed my mind. We walked a couple of minutes to a small river where some interesting looking man waved to us out of a large self-made boat. Their long hair and their varicolored clothing made us realize that they must be our hosts for that day. The Embera Quera Village is a peaceful place, with friendly people, away from the noisy civilization, that can be reached only by boat. From the moment, we went aboard, our time travel begun.

The half – hour boat trip itself was an adventure. We saw a lot of wild animals like monkeys, a lot of birds, tortoises and even a caiman. In my eyes, the most impressive animal was the Jesus-Christ-lizard. As the name suggests, it is able to walk on water. . Once we arrived we were welcomed by the Embera. The women danced and the men greeted us with traditional music played on self-made instruments.

Atilano, the Chief himself, welcomed us and we learned about their culture and life in the village of the Embera- Quera. The Embera were not the only ones who were happy to see us. A cheeky baby monkey and Tony the toucan were also very curious about the new visitors. After a delicious traditional lunch the gardener and medicine man, Miguel Flaco, showed us the rest of the village and explained the curativeness of the different plants. As we walked between the traditional houses, we got a deeper insight of the life of this interesting and friendly people. I really felt like a time traveler when I saw the simple but wonderful way of life. I was deeply impressed to see people who live in such a close communion with nature. It was amazing to see the women dance their traditional dances, accompanied by the man`s instruments. We even got the chance to dance together with them. After the traditional dances we were able to buy some beautiful handmade trappings and jewelry. We learned that 10 % of their earnings are given to their Children`s educational found. By travelling to the Embera I had the chance to support those people and to see an impressive and unusual way of life.

After this experience I really wanted to spend more time in this village with its friendly people. This wonderful day will stay in my mind and in my heart forever. For more information about this tour or others do not hesitate to visit our website www.ecocircuitos.com or contact us directly at 1-800-830-7142 We are looking forward to organize a trip for you!

Interview with Annie Young J. – Director at EcoCircuitos Panama

Annie Young, visiting Ecuador

Annie Young J. Kayaking in the San Juan Islands

Local future guides in Panama with Annie Young J.

Questions by  Hedda Rumohr Berge

Norwegian journalist

HRB: What do ecotourism stand for?

AYJ:  Well there are so many different academic definitions…Ecotourism is a form of nature-base tourism.  But the one that I like refers to the concept that ecotourism is responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well being of our local communities. Ecotourism is environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature and also cultural features from the past and the present.  It is also a form of tourism that promotes conservation, has low negative impact from visitors and provides economic benefits to locals.

HRB: Where do it come from?

AYJ:  Ecotourism is a sub-component of the field of sustainable tourism.  If you want to know a bit more of sustainable tourism in Panama, I invite you to learn from our Association:  www.aptso.org  (Asociación Panameña de Turismo Sostenible).

Ecotourism is connected to the conservation movement. It provided a highly source of revenue to natural areas that need protection.  I worked as a volunteer in the some local NGOs when I was younger and it was a good dynamic: conservation plays an important role in the promotion of ecotourism and both can work together.

Some good resources:  The Sustainable Travel International and the Ecotourism Society.  Both organizations offer important guidelines to the private sector that promotes ecotourism.

HRB: When did Panama start ecotourism?

ACY: I started learning about ecotourism in Panama in the early 90s when the conservation movement started growing here.  I had the opportunity to be a volunteer for ANCON, a local NGO that promotes conservation of land and also worked for The Panama Audubon Society, that promotes conservation for bird’s habitats.  These two experiences give me an important insight on how the conservation could be linked to the outdoor travel.  As volunteers we visited different areas in Panama to promote conservation and environmental education.  We did field trips with donors to see bird’s habitats to National Parks, private reserves, indigenous communities, and this was my first experience as an ecotourist.

Ecotourism is a niche market that is growing… sadly not so rapidly in Panama.   Some countries, some companies and some destinations have developed ecotourism policies and we should learn from those experiences.  We need to create policies in Panama for sustainable tourism.  We are on the race but a little behind.   Costa Rica, Brazil, Chile and USA are interesting examples and we can learn from the good experiences.

HRB: What kind of people travel like this? and why should we?

ACY:  I feel that people today want to travel responsible and also want to receive guidance.  The ecotourists wants to behave responsible when travel: how can negative impacts be minimized while visiting sensitive environments and cultures?  How can we interact with local cultures without affecting them?  How can we contribute to the conservation of the visited areas?

People and travelers that are sensitive to these issues are the ecotravelers.  And to me those travelers are very important because they will demand sustainable services and with this demand good offer will arise and more conscious companies.  Ecotourism can be a highly effective tool for conservation, but it depends on committed tour operators, service providers that also want to work for the future generations.

HRB: Is the ecotourism growing? Or can it be only a trend?

ACY: It will keep growing if we have travelers behaving in a responsible way and committed with the principles of sustainable tourism. It will keep growing if more companies embrace a responsible approach in tourism and work not just for today.   Sustainable travel and ecotourism are the only way of traveling in our current world.  If we want to keep it for the future generations, this is the best way!

Annie Young J. founded EcoCircuitos Panama  in 1999. She is in charge of the Marketing and Sales Department and continually researches and creates new programs and adventures. Annie has a degree in Social Communication with an emphasis in Journalism from the University of Panama, a diploma in Business Strategies for Environmental Sustainability from Stanford University in California and a Course on Environmental Management of International Tourism Development from Harvard University. She is the President of APTSO (Panamanian Association of Sustainable Tourism) and is committed to the conservation and social development of Panama through the promotion of sustainable tourism.

EcoCircuitos Video

EcoCircuitos Panama: Promoting Sustinable Tourism in Panama

Claudia Young, International Sales Manager

San Blas Islands

Fabio Trujillo y Laura Ramirez, staff team

EcoCircuitos training guides on the field

Office team

EcoCircuitos theoritcal training

Ecocircuitos Panama

Kayaking tours

Annie Young, Director and Founder

EcoCircuitos Panama: http://www.ecocircuitos.com
31 Albrook Plaza, Panama City, Panama
+507 315 1488

Since 1999, EcoCircuitos Panama has been a company committed to the development of sustainable tourism by providing diverse options for responsible and low impact travel thought the Republic of Panama. It is a locally owned company that works on a grass roots level providing greener options for traveling.

EcoCircuitos founder Annie Young Jaén realized earlier than most Panamanian tour operators, that the sensitive natural and cultural destinations in the country would need to be approached with much care and understanding. “The core element in all our tours is to keep the environmental impacts to a minimum while at the same time maximizing the benefits to the local host communities. The customized tours and adventures are  designed to have a strong educational side: each traveler is accompanied by a local guide who is not only an expert on the nature and culture of the visited area, but also follows and teaches minimum-impact principles”.

EcoCircuitos aims to combine fun outdoor adventures, cultural exchanges and nature preservation to make an unforgettable vacation for their clients, all organized and lead by local talents.  “Maximizing the skills and opportunities of the local suppliers, guides and staff to grow together through tourism is one of the main goals for us”.

The EcoCircuitos staff is an inspirational group of people who are all committed to provide alternatives to conventional tourism in Panama. They truly care about their clients and make sure that each and every experience is unique and genuine, showing the true Panamanian culture and spirit. The team is passionate about sustainable travel and work continuously to improve not only their operations through best-practice learning but also those of their suppliers in the office and the field.

The company’s commitment is further visible in their key role in the founding of APTSO (www.aptso.org) The Panamanian Association for sustainable tourism. EcoCircuitos hope that their permanent example of best practice will become a model and learning opportunity to other Panamanian companies to inspire a more sustainable and responsible development of Panama Tourism.

Fam Trip to Azuero Peninsula

Cañas Island, turtle watching

Typical lunch in Azuero

Panamanian artisan

By Franzisca Beyer

Just at the end of my internship I was invited to a great trip to Azuero and for sure I was more than happy to go on this last trip with Panama Al Natural who organized the whole trip.
Our trip started with visiting the archaeological park el Cano (province of Cocle), where remains of bodies, weapons, tools and pieces of gold, whose antiquity dates between 700 and 1,000 years were found. The excavations in el Caño started in 2006 in an area of about 5,000 square meters, but the first archaeological finds of bodies and parts were found between 2008 and 2009, when the first discoveries were reported. Visiting this place was a very nice start to our trip.
Later that day we arrived to Parita a small town near Chitre, where we visited a man who produces traditional masks. We were invited to his home, he explained and showed us how to fabricate these masks. It was heartwarming to see him working with so much passion.
Having arrived in Pedasi, we got picked up by our guide for the next hours. I already had been to Pedasi, but I had not heard before about Isla Cañas, which is about an one hour ride from Pedasi. This island is the most important place in Panama where turtles  come to spawn and whales on their migration path can be observe.

After delicious fried fish with patacones we took a long walk at the beach, hoping to meet a turtle. It was deep dark..I was listening to the sounds of the ocean and trying to keep this amazing atmosphere in mind.
And it was our lucky day because just when we started our way back to the hotel we saw a big and beautiful turtle spawning. It was one of the best days in my life…we all sat down and observed her patiently. The turtle finished spawning and started to cover the eggs carefully, after assuring herself that all eggs were well protected she started her long way back to the ocean. Impressed of this wonder of nature we also got back to the hotel.
The next day after having lovely prepared and delicious pancakes at Hostal Doña Maria we continued our trip to a small town called San José, where we had traditional lunch and got an introduction about the pollera, the typical dress of Panama which was quite interesting. It is incredible how enthusiastic these women produce the polleras and how successful they are. We finished the day with a tasty diner at hotel Mykonos in Santiago.
Early in the morning we started our last day with a boat trip to an island in the bay of Montijo. Our boat was accompanied by dolphins, the sun was shining and the island was just stunning beautiful with a white-sand beach and pristine water. While eating my picnic lunch at the beach, I watched pelicans catching fish and I was thinking about how lucky I am to experience Panama with EcoCircuitos.
Now I am back in the office writing my last report and I would like to thank EcoCircuitos for my internship here in Panama. This last trip and the Panama Canal Transit are definitely experiences that I will remember a life time.

EcoCircuitos Jungle Boat Tour & Hiking in the Soberania National Park

By Benita Rose

 

After having worked in the EcoCircuitos office in Panama City for about 1 ½ months now, my task as the new German intern and therefore one of the representatives of the company was to start getting to know the services that exceed our office-doors. Having read the description of our tour many, many times, and having added it to itineraries of our clients almost every day, I knew more or less what was expecting me. Nevertheless, participating in the tour in person was a way more exciting experience.

On our way to the Soberania National Park, guide Irvin and driver Roberto were a great team in knowing where to pass and what to explain to us. The 1 hour drive went by quickly as Irvin gave us some insight about different parts of the City, the Canal and various bridges we passed. As we got out of the car, we instantly noticed the change of climate. Although it was only a short drive, the humidity seemed to have risen a 30 %.

During our hike in the forest Irvin apparently knew every little detail that happens in nature: whether it was spotting any type of animal or (tiny) insects, where they would go, what kind of sounds they make or what kind of trees and plants can be used for medicine or survival – Irvin knew it. Since we were almost alone, the sounds of nature you could hear while walking were stunning. I secretly imagined sleeping in the rainforest, surrounded by hundreds of bird and animal sounds. I personally enjoyed listening to how Panama´s indigenous tribes survive living in the forest, how they hunt, how they make sure they have sufficient water, or what kind of plants can be used for their housing or living in general. A highlight of the hike was the monkeys we spotted. Their sounds could be heard from far away, but we actually managed to walk by right where they were climbing the trees.

Leaving the Soberania Park, we headed to our Jungle Boat Tour on the Chagres-River. I didn’t know what was expecting me, and was even more surprised when I found myself mentally back in the Tortugero National Park I had been to in Costa Rica a few years ago, definitely a somewhat jungle-experience. We spotted iguanas, crocodiles, and again about three different types of monkeys. Irvin was not just quick in spotting animals, but he was also more than up to date on his information about the river, its history and the plans for the future. The many little islands covered with tropical forest and wildlife we saw from the boat are supposed to be connected in the next few years, so that the animals have more space to live and spread. It was good to hear that something like that will be happening in the future.

All in all I was more than content with what I saw and learned on my first EcoCircuitos tour. I´m looking forward to the next experience and will definitely share it with you!