Panama Expands Darién National Park Boundaries

The Ministry of the Environment will continue to coordinate with communities linked to Darién National Park and its buffer zone, in order to request their permanent help and support to guarantee the protection and conservation of this extraordinary natural reserve that belongs to all Panamanians. The Ministry of the Environment reported that through Executive Decree No. 3 of December 31, 2025, the National Government updated the boundaries of Darién National Park, culminating in a broad public citizen consultation process that began more than 10 years ago. This decree updates and strengthens Darién National Park as a protected area of the Republic of Panama, establishes its membership in the National System of Protected Areas (SINAP), and reiterates its management category as a National Park. The initiative was developed in compliance with environmental regulations, including technical analyses, legal reviews, citizen consultations in the area, and spaces for rapprochement with communities and local authorities, ensuring its proper legal backing and broad territorial participation during public consultations. This update reinforces the protection and conservation of one of the country's and the Mesoamerican region's most important ecosystems, guaranteeing the safeguarding of its biodiversity, protecting its ecosystem services, and reaffirming its value as the nation's natural heritage. Environmentally, this reserve has suffered greatly in recent years due to the passage of more than a million migrants from the south of the continent, who turned it into a landfill, leaving an incalculable amount of waste. The park has an area of 5,790 square kilometers, larger than the province of Coclé, and in 1981 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.