My Deforested Home

Deforestation is not a pretty sight

When I say that I live in the jungle, what I really mean is : I live where the jungle used to be. Fortunately, the Madungandi Kuna Preserve is just 5 km from the cottage. Here is a brief summary of what I've learned about deforestation in Panama.

DEFORESTATION IN PANAMA

Cutting and clearing land for agriculture and construction has been going on for a long time, ever since folks ran out of naturally open land, on a small scale. As the population grew, the agricultural and pastoral lands west of Panama City were gradually cleared.

But deforestation kicked into high gear in the late 70’s, when the government issued something akin to the Oklahoma Land Rush, offering free plots of land in Panama East and Darien to anyone would go and “work” the land. Many campesinos took the offer. But, investors also saw a golden opportunity. They formed land corporations and recruited peasants to sign up for land and paying them pennies per acre in exchange. They were then able to claim huge tracts of land, which they promptly developed. They harvested any valuable hardwoods, then cut and burned what remained. The land was then used for agriculture, teak plantations and cattle ranches, as Panamanians have an unusually large appetite for beef.

Soil erosion from "slash and burn" can turn a river brown, kill fish and pollute water

The clear-cutting (or slash and burn) resulted in massive erosion into the rivers, killing fish and making the water unpalatable for the indigenous folks who lived along the banks. Erosion is particularly acute because of the torrential rains of the rainy season. Pesticides from agriculture and the teak plantations, along with mining by-products further contaminated the rivers. An estimated 6,000,000 acres were deforested between 1980 and 2000.

With their natural water sources gone, residents of this area appealed to the government which located spring sources in the mountains and constructed hundreds of small water systems to serve the towns and villages. Often, these springs are at a great (5-10 km) distance from the town. The locals were left to fend for themselves for maintenance of the systems. They formed local Water Committees, which collect a small monthly fee, usually $1 or $2 per month per family, to pay for required maintenance.

The Madungandi Kuna Preserve - 5 km from the cottage

To the government’s credit, they saw where this was going and in 1980 started creating National Parks and Preserves, which now cover some 5 million acres or about 25% of the total land area. While much of this is in mountainous areas that are not suitable for development anyway, it has slowed deforestation to about 90,000 acres per year.

Teak plantations are the most popular way to reforest

the durability and  fine grain of teak make it much sought after

The government has also instituted a unique plan for reforestation – the reforestation visa. For about $40,000 a foreigner can purchase one hectare of newly planted teak plantation and gain permanent resident status. While this has caused a significant amount of new trees to be planted, mostly on former cattle ranches, the plantings are of a single species – teak, which often needs to be sprayed with pesticide and creates a monoculture which is not friendly to most indigenous wildlife. But, given that the cost of a 5 foot plank of 1”x6” teak is worth about $50 in the US, it is no surprise that teak is the tree of choice to plant.