Current view: Text account
Site description (2003 baseline):
Site location and context
Metropolitan Nature Park is an urban park at the edge of Panama City. It is adjacent to Camino de Cruces National Park in the north and to the Curundu and Los Angeles sections of Panama City to the south, east, and west.
Metropolitan Nature Park is an important bottleneck site for migratory raptors. In 2004 a total of 732348 Turkey Vultures, 55,061 Broad-winged Hawks, and 322,469 Swainson's Hawks were counted on autumn migration. Many of these probably used the park as an overnight roost. Several nationally threatened and biome-restricted species also occur, including the nationally endemic Yellowish-green Tyrannulet.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals that are known or probably occur include Central American Woolly Opossum, Silky Anteater, Geoffroy’s Tamarin, Panamanian Spiny Pocket-Mouse, Ocelot, and Jaguarundi. The reptiles and amphibians have not been surveyed in detail but some of the species found in Soberanía National Park may occur.
The park contains semideciduous lowland forest mostly less than 70 years old. There are several developed trails.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
In 1995 the law establishing the park was amended to permit construction of the Northern Corridor Highway, dividing the park and destroying forest in the eastern sector, before an environmental impact assessment had been completed, leading to strong opposition from many of Panama’s environmental and civil organizations including PAS. Some of the mitigations and compensation promised by PYCSA, the company constructing the highway, have never been made. Only a few minutes from downtown Panama City, it is of exceptional interest for ecotourism and environmental education, and there are several nature trails.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The park has been the focus of important studies on forest canopy ecology, using a tower construction crane, by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the United Nations Environment Program.
Metropolitan Nature Park was created in 1985 in part of the U.S.-administered Canal Zone that reverted to Panama in 1979. Six park guards are assigned to it.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Metropolitan Nature Park (Panama). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/metropolitan-nature-park-iba-panama on 26/12/2024.
