Chagres National Park

Chagres National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Chagres National Park (top center) within Panama
Location	Panamá Province, Panama
Coordinates	9.4°N 79.5°W / 9.4; -79.5
Area	129,000 hectares (320,000 acres)
Established	1985
Chagres National Park Foundation

The Chagres National Park is a nature park and protected area[1] created in 1986 located in the Panamá and Colón provinces, in the Eastern sector of the Panama Canal with a total surface area of 129,000 ha (320,000 acres).[2]

Environment

The park contains tropical rain forests and a set of rivers which provide sufficient water to guarantee the operation of the Gatun Lake, main lake of the Panama Canal: the Chagres River[2] and the Gatun River. The highest point of the park is Cerro Jefe, at 1,007 m above sea level. [3] It is considered a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance. [4] It has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International.[5]

Panama Canal Watershed

The park was created in 1985,[6] with the aim of preserving the natural forest that composes it

• to produce water in amount and quality sufficient to guarantee the normal operation of the Panama Canal[7][8]
• to supply potable water for the cities of Panama, Colon and la Chorrera,[6]
• and the generation of electricity for the cities of Panama and Colon.[9]

References

1. "Between six ferns: New tropical fern species described by science". Mongabay Environmental News. 2022-07-19. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
2. Modified, Lisa Monforton Posted: Last. "Jan 2010: A foot in TWO WORLDS". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
3. "BirdLife Data Zone". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
4. "Chagres National Park, Panama - KeyBiodiversityAreas.org". www.keybiodiversityareas.org. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
5. "Chagres National Park". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-22.
6. Ecotourismpanama.com
7. The Status of the Panama Canal Watershed and Its Biodiversity at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Long-term ecological studies reveal a diverse flora and fauna near the Panama Canal, harbored within a corridor of forest stretching from the Caribbean to the Pacific, but deforestation, land degradation, erosion, and overhunting remain threats
8. Wadsworth FH. 1978. Deforestation: Death to the Panama Canal. Pages 22–24 in Proceedings of the US Strategy Conference on Tropical Deforestation. Washington (DC): US Department of State and US Agency for International Development.
9. "BirdLife Data Zone". datazone.birdlife.org. Retrieved 2022-09-30.