On August 19, 2016, the Administration of the Panama Canal (ACP) announced that it has begun a reforestation program covering 83 hectares in the province of Darien to compensate for the recent expansion of the Canal.
The reforestation is part of a campaign that will re-forest 1,243 hectares nationwide at a cost of 3 million US dollars. A total of 937 hectares of land have already been reforested.
“We are very proud of the benefits that the canal expansion has brought to this part of the country, especially as this is the first restoration project by the Canal in Darien,” said Ilya Espino de Marotta, the ACP’s executive vice-president.
The reforestation includes planting coffee and cacao trees as well as native species, such as the cocobolo.
The government has partnered with the NGO Ancon to reforest 1 million hectares in the region over 20 years.
Photo of forest stream in Panama by Storm Cunningham.