Chagres National Park Explained
The Chagres National Park is a nature park and protected area[1] created in 1986 located between the Province of Panama and Colon, in the Eastern sector of the Panama Canal with a total surface area of 129000ha.[2]
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 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]
Panama Canal Watershed
The park was created in 1985,[5] 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[6] [7]
- to supply potable water for the cities of Panama, Colon and la Chorrera,
- and the generation of electricity for the cities of Panama and Colon.[8]
Notes and References
- Web site: 2022-07-19 . Between six ferns: New tropical fern species described by science . 2022-09-30 . Mongabay Environmental News . en-US.
- Web site: Modified . Lisa Monforton Posted: Last . Jan 2010: A foot in TWO WORLDS . 2022-09-30 . Winnipeg Free Press . en-US.
- Web site: BirdLife Data Zone . 2022-09-30 . datazone.birdlife.org.
- Web site: Chagres National Park, Panama - KeyBiodiversityAreas.org . 2022-09-30 . www.keybiodiversityareas.org.
- http://www.ecotourismpanama.com/national-parks/chagres.htm Ecotourismpanama.com
- https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/51/5/389/243988 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
- 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.
- Web site: BirdLife Data Zone . 2022-09-30 . datazone.birdlife.org.
