Steps taken by Panama in the past year include enacting a province-wide illegal logging moratorium in Darien to stop anarchic cutting and clearing of tropical rainforests until a new permitting system is deployed, while hiring, equipping, and training 240 new national park rangers with the trucks, boats, and equipment they need—with an additional 50 rangers on the way.

The National Border Service of Panama (SENAFRONT), the Public Ministry, and the Ministry of Environment (MiAMBIENTE) dismantled an illegal mining network in the Mangle River, in Alto Tuira, within Darién National Park, near the border between Panama and Colombia.

Last week, Global Conservation conducted a mission to Darien National Park to assess the progress made over the past two years and to plan for enhanced protection of forests and wildlife in 2025-26.

With Global Park Defense, the park authority and ranger teams will have increased capacity and improved effectiveness to greatly improve park and wildlife protection, law enforcement, and biodiversity monitoring. Our goal is to achieve "No Cut, No Kill" protection for the national park within 5-6 years.

Isolated communities are sounding the alarm over poisoned rivers and cultural erosion after a surge in migrants crossing their ancestral lands.