Closest city: El Real Map
Area: 5,790 km2 (579,000 ha)
Tel. 299 6579, 299 6183
The Daríen National Park is located in the
southeast of Panama, along the border with Colombia and thus on the
southernmost part of the land bridge between Central and South
America.
It was founded on September 27, 1980. UNESCO
declared it a World Natural Heritage Site in 1981 and a biosphere
Reserve in 1983. With an area of 5970 km2, it is the largest
national park in Central America. It borders on the Colombian
National Park Los Katíos in the south, which has also been declared
a World Natural Heritage Site.
This is located in one of the
most biodiverse tropical rainforest areas on Earth. A wide range of
animal and plant species occur here. The great variety of habitats
offers space for an unusually large biodiversity. The protected area
is home to beaches, mangrove forests and, on the Pacific side,
lagoons. For the most part, the park consists of several types of
tropical rainforest. At 1,845 m, the Cerro Tacarcuna is the highest
point of the national park and forms the watershed between the
Pacific and the Caribbean.
With the three indigenous peoples
of the Embera, the Kuna and the Wounaan, the area is also culturally
diverse.
The annual rainfall is between 3000 mm and 4000 mm on the Caribbean side and about 4000 mm and 5000 mm on the Pacific side. The dry season, with an average rainfall of 100 mm per month, runs from January to March. The temperature varies from 16 to 35 °C with an annual average of 26 °C.
The forests of the Darién province are still largely
undisturbed and form the most biodiverse habitats in Central America.
About 2440 plant species have been identified, of which about 40 species
are endemic. The main part of the landscape is characterized by humid
and very humid tropical rainforests.
In the mangrove forests of
the coasts, for example, one encounters the black and red mangrove,
further west the umbrella acacia Albizia caribaea, the woolly tree
Bombacopsis quinata, the buttercup tree, the mimosa tree Prosopis
juliflora and the palm Sabal allenii. Palm trees such as manicaria and
Jessenia and also Copaifera and Pachira aquatica usually grow in the
freshwater marshes. About 10% of the park consists of deciduous tropical
lowland forest. Much of it appears to be secondary forest, created by
indigenous peoples but abandoned upon the arrival of the Spanish over
500 years ago. Some of the largest specimens of this area, with a size
of about 40 m, belong to the species Cavanillesia platanifolia. The warm
and humid mountain forest, which starts about above 200 m, covers about
60% of the park. Lianas, epiphytes and ferns are abundant here. Cloud
forest starts from an altitude of about 700 m, the predominant tree
species here is Oenocarpus panamanus. This region occupies about 30% of
the park.
The region is exceptionally rich in species. So far,
169 species of mammals, 533 species of birds, 99 species of reptiles, 78
species of amphibians and 50 species of fish have been detected. Endemic
species are often encountered. For many species, Daríen represents a
kind of demarcation line, animal species from North and South America
meet here.
The white-tailed deer, which prefers forest clearings,
shares the area with the forest-loving spotted deer, the red mazama. The
largest rodents, the capybaras, live here, as well as the Central
American aguti and the paka. The spitz crocodile shares the rivers with
its South American cousin, the crocodile caiman. The distribution area
of the coyote extends to central Panama and is replaced here by the
smaller forest dog, which is distributed further south to Brazil. In
addition to the black-spotted jaguars, the ocelots, the long-tailed cats
and the Northern Tiger cats, jaguarundi and puma also live here. The
black-headed, northern subspecies of the brown-headed spider monkey
begins to replace the Geoffroy's spider monkey, which is equipped with
reddish dorsal fur and lives further north. In addition, four other
monkey species live here, Panama night monkey, mantle howler monkey,
white-shouldered capuchin and Geoffroy's wig monkey. Brown-throated
sloth, large anteater, white-bearded and collared peccary, as well as
Central American tapir are also found here.
Seven mammal species
are considered endemic, the pocket rat species Orthogeomys dariénsis,
the climbing mouse species Rhipidomys latimanus and the slender pouch
rat Marmosops invictus.
The number of whale species living off
the coast is estimated at 20, that of sharks at 33 and that of sea
turtles at four.
The forests of the Darién are the only area in
Central America where there are four colorful species of aras. The Great
Soldier Macaw, which can also be found further north, and the red
bugaras, yellow-breasted macaws and the green-winged macaws, which are
actually only native to South America. It is also home to the largest
population of the most powerful bird of prey on Earth, the harpy, which
hunts larger birds and monkeys here and is also Panama's national bird.
Other birds of prey are, for example, the magpie eagle and the robin's
caracara. In forests you can also meet the hokkoho chickens,
tuberclehokko and crested guan. Of the species found in the lowlands,
brown-mantled spurfowl, kerrtinamu and bar-backed ant shrikes are listed
as endangered species. Five species of birds are considered endemic, for
example, the Northern pearl porcupine (Margarornis bellulus) and the
speckled tanager (Tangara fucosa).
A threat to the entire area is the expansion of the last section of the Pan-American Highway. This road connecting the entire American double continent is currently interrupted only by the so-called Tapón del Darién. Another threat comes from Colombia's neighbor. Along the border, large tracts of forest were cleared on the Colombian side. The adjacent Los Katíos National Park is also threatened by deforestation and illegal hunting, so that it has been classified as endangered by UNESCO since 2009.