Current view: Text account
Site description (2003 baseline):
Site location and context
This site includes the major islands of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, Islas Colón, Bastimentos, Cristóbal, Popa, Solarte, and Cayo Agua. Colón (6,300 ha) is the largest and most populated island of archipelago, and the location of the provincial capital, Bocas del Toro town (population 2,500). Bastimentos (5,100 ha), to the east of Colón, has the towns of Old Bank and Salt Creek on its western and eastern sides respectively. Solarte (625 ha), also called Nancy Cay or Cayo Nancy, is just to the southwest of Bastimentos. Cristóbal (3,700 ha) and Popa (5,375) are closest to the mainland. Cayo Agua (1,400), at the eastern end of the archipelago, is farthest from the mainland. These latter three islands are relatively less populated than Colón and Bastimentos. Agricultural areas on the island are devoted largely to cattle raising.
Three-wattled Bellbirds occur regularly on all the islands of the archipelago (W. Martínez pers. com.) on seasonal migration from breeding areas in the highlands, and have been recorded breeding on Colón (J. Roper pers. comm.). Nicaraguan Seed-Finch has been recorded on Colón, one of two Panama localities. A relict population of Stub-tailed Spadebill is found on the main islands of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago, the next-closest population of which is in northwest Costa Rica (Olsen 1993). The distinctive manakin populations on the islands, although resembling Golden-collared Manakin, share some genetic characteristics with the White-collared Manakin (M. Braun,
in litt.). Some other forms on the islands may represent endemic subspecies, but further study is needed (S. Olson,
in litt.). The archipelago as a whole is of exceptional scientific interest with regard to island biogeography and genetic differentiation in isolated habitats.
Non-bird biodiversity: Western Night Monkeys occur on Colón and Bastimentos, but are otherwise not found in the Bocas del Toro lowlands. Richmond's Squirrel occurs only on Colón Island in Panama and in Honduras. Colón, Bastimentos, Cayo Agua, and Solarte Nancy have an endemic dwarf form of Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth, and Colón, Bastimentos, and Solarte share an endemic undescribed species of Nine-banded Armadillo (Dasypus). Undescribed species of Agouti (Dasyprocta) and Climbing Rat (Tylomys) also occur. Other endangered mammals include Central American Wooly Opossum and Silky Anteater (Carrión de Samudio 1992, Handley 1993, Valdespino and Santamaría 1997). The poison-dart frog Dendrobates pumilio shows interesting geographic variation in the archipelago, with different color morphs on each island. The salamander Bolitoglossa biseriata also occurs. Because of its closeness to the mainland, Popa probably has the most diverse vertebrate fauna of the archipelago.
Much of the southern and northwestern parts of Colón island are deforested, but a substantial block of evergreen lowland forest (c. 2,900 ha) remains in the center and northeast. Perhaps half of this is older forest. Bastimentos contains about 2,998 ha of evergreen lowland forest, plus smaller areas of disturbed forest (566 ha), seasonally flooded forest (441 ha), and mangroves (604 ha). Most of the older forest (1,334 ha) is protected within Bastimentos Marine National Park. Most of Solarte is forested except for its western end. Although much of Cristóbal is forested (2,300 ha), most of this is second growth. The mature forest that remains includes swampy forest on the eastern side of the island, and a fringe of tall evergreen lowland forest on hills inland of this. Popa (5,375 ha) retains large areas of evergreen lowland forest (4,200 ha), most of it in a single block (4,100 ha), including old and intact forest in the center of the island. Cayo de Agua (1,400 ha) is the smallest and most distant from the mainland of the five main islands of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago. More than 78% (1,100 ha) of the original evergreen lowland tropical forest remains, almost all of it mature. There is a narrow fringe of cleared area on the south and west coasts of the island (Handley 1993). On Cayo Agua more than 78% (1,100 ha) of the original evergreen lowland tropical forest remains, almost all of it mature. There is a narrow fringe of cleared area on the south and west coasts of the island. (Valdespino and Santamaría 1992, Handley 1993). Cleared areas are mostly devoted to cattle raising and subsistence agricultural, although in recent years there has been increasing development for tourism and residential facilities.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Development for tourism and residential communities has expanded enormously in the Bocas del Toro Archipelago in the last 5 years, and dozens of new hotels and residences have been constructed. Red Frog Beach, a major new luxury housing development on Bastimentos Island adjacent to the national park, is likely to cause extensive deforestation and other detrimental effects in an area probably used by Three-wattled Bellbird. Some infrastructure and a few houses have also been constructed in another major development on Solarte Island, also Procnias habitat, and other developments are planned on Colón Island and elsewhere. Unplanned development is likely to be a continuing threat throughout the Archipelago. Given the high scientific interest of the islands, at least part of the mature forest on each of the islands should be protected.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The archipelago has been the subject of extensive studies by the Smithsonian Institution (Handley 1992, Olson 1993).
Bastimentos Marine National Park (13,226 ha total, of which 1,640 ha is land) protects the central part of Bastimentos Island. Bluff Beach, a sea turtle nesting beach on Colón, is a municipal reserve.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Bocas del Toro Archipelago (Panama). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/bocas-del-toro-archipelago-iba-panama on 23/12/2024.
