Current view: Text account
Site description (2003 baseline):
Site location and context
The Ensenada de Garachiné is a bay formed by Punta Garachiné and Punta Patiño on the south side of the Gulf of San Miguel. The town of Garachiné is located at the western end of the bay.
The site is important for migratory shorebirds. The highest single day count was 7,898 in January 1993 (Morrison
et al. 1998). Based on single-day counts, the site may contain 1.1% of the North American population of Whimbrel.
Non-bird biodiversity: Neotropical River Otter, Crab-eating Raccoon and American Crocodile probably occur.
The bay contains 7,400 ha of tidal mudflats and 3,000 ha of mangroves at the mouth of the Sambu River. The area is inhabited by latinos, Emberá-Wounaan and afrocolonials (
darienitas) and devoted to subsistence agriculture with a limited amount of cattle.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Although mangroves in general are threatened by extraction for wood, tannin and charcoal, because of relatively low population in the Garachiné area, this site is not thought to be significantly threatened.
The mangroves are contained within the Chepigana Forest Reserve (257,219 ha), created in 1984, while the mudflats are unprotected.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Ensenada de Garachiné Wetlands (Panama). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/ensenada-de-garachiné-wetlands-iba-panama on 24/11/2024.
