Conservation Value:

Wounaan Indigenous territories harbour intact forest and species already extirpated outside this region.  They lie within the Majé Mountain range, which extends 60 km and has some of the highest biodiversity in the world, from its mountain tops to the Pacific coast. The landscape is the winter home to at least 65 Neotropical migratory bird species, including the Prothonotary and Canada warblers and support globally threatened species such as the Great Green Macaw, Harpy Eagle and Great Curassow. Research in the eastern-most highland of the range, the Chucantí Reserve (established with support from ICFC), indicate a high level of endemism and has uncovered new species, including: a staghorn beetle, a lungless salamander, a centipede snake, Anthurium (a plant), a Heliconia plant, a Pierid butterfly, a climbing rat and a beetle.

Threats:

Outside Wounaan territories, forests are being logged and cleared for cattle ranching and farming at one of the highest rates in Panama and there has been widespreaddestruction of coastal mangroves.  With access from the Pan American Highway, settlers have cleared 40% of the land in eastern Panama.  The remaining forest - starkly seen from satellite imagery – is found in national parks and Indigenous territories, including Indigenous territories still without legal recognition like Rio Hondo, Platanares and Majé.

Actions & Results:

ICFC works with Native Future and Wounaan communities to protect their traditional lands (25,000 hectares) from the Majé Mountains to Panama Bay. A successful strategy led by the Wounaan has been a game- changer: it combines live satellite monitoring, border monitors, drone operators, and legal representation. This has led to documented illegal incursions and ecological damage being brought before the Panamanian government and then into the courts. Since 2017, the Wounaan have reported on 260 hectares of deforestation to Panama’s environmental authorities, and 37 people have been investigated for their environmental infractions or crimes. 

As of February 2023, 21 individuals have been “denounced”, three have been convicted and await sentencing, and two government officials have been removed from their positions for suspected malfeasance.  In February 2024, evidence provided by Wounaan territorial monitors enabled prosecutors to investigate and charge nineteen government officials, lawyers and topographers for land administration and environmental crimes.  These outcomes, the result of two years’ work, are unprecedented in the history of Wounaan territorial defense. The work is far from done but the tide has turned. Seventy-three claims by loggers to approximately 3,000 hectares of the Wounaan territory of Aruza were deemed illegitimate. In July 2024, the Aruza were able to resubmit their application for a collective title to all 8,000 hectares of their land.  Our field partner Native Future is helping Wounaan to title more than 160,000 hectares.