Current view: Text account
Site description (2007 baseline):
Site location and context
The site consists of hilly areas on the coast extending east and north from Bahía Honda, as well as Isla Canal de Tierra just offshore. The island is mainly forested, while there are remnant fragments of forest on the steeper slopes on the mainland.
The site is estimated to hold a threshold population of Great Curassow.
Non-bird biodiversity: [To come]
The area contains remnant semideciduous forest. Forest on Isla Canal de Tierra has been disturbed by logging. Remaining fragments on the mainland are mostly less than 10 ha. However, local large landowners are allowing the forest to regenerate on their property. The surrounding area is devoted to cattle and subsistence agriculture. Residents of the town of Bahía Honda engage in fishing.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Although the area has been greatly deforested for cattle and subsistence agriculture, the present owners of much of the area are encouraging forest regeneration and reforestation. Illegal hunting could be a threat, but its extent is unknown.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The owner of Isla Canal de Tierra and much of the mainland area has established a biological research station on the island and sponsored a biological survey of the area. PRORENA, an organization which studies reforestation with native trees associated with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Yale University, is carrying out a project on the mainland.
Coiba National Park is offshore, and this area constitutes a buffer zone for it.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Bahía Honda (Panama). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/bahía-honda-iba-panama on 04/12/2024.
