In Panama’s Darién, Indigenous communities test a new way to fund conservation

In Panama's Darién, Indigenous communities are exploring innovative ways to fund conservation efforts, as they face mounting pressure from illegal logging and agricultural expansion. When Elsa Quiroz saw a jaguar's spotted body on her son's computer screen, she was stunned. "I'd only seen them in books," she remarked. Recently, the community in Puerto Lara, an Indigenous Wounaan village north of Panama's Darien forest, captured images of a jaguar crossing a semi-abandoned path near the Pan-American Highway.

While the community was familiar with bird species surrounding their village, the presence of jaguars was unknown. Samuel Cheucarama, the son of Elsa Quiroz, reviews photos taken by cameras installed in Puerto Lara every two weeks and was equally surprised by the biodiversity within the community's 600-hectare forest. The cameras monitor agoutis, spotted rabbits, turkeys, margays, and white-headed monkeys, among others.

This project involves four communities managing a combined 18,000 hectares of tropical forest in eastern Panama. Despite government efforts to reduce deforestation in Darién National Park, illegal activities continue to threaten the communities. With limited support from local and national authorities, these Indigenous communities are now seeking economically viable alternatives to their conservation efforts.