The Metropolitan Natural Park, otherwise known in Spanish as Parque Natural Metropolitano, is also revered as “the lung of Panama City,” given that the 256-acre park is located just a couple of minutes away from downtown Panama City. It’s surprising how a place like this exists smack dab in the middle of a developing metropolis, but the park has accomplished it; the park is home to approximately 45 species of mammals, 14 species of amphibians, 36 species of reptiles and a whopping 227 species of birds. No wonder the park is a bookmark in every birdwatcher’s visit to Panama.

The main office closes after 5PM and visitors are required to check in (and check out) just in case someone gets lost. For longer hiking trips it is suggested to plan on going elsewhere. That’s not to beat the Metropolitan Natural Park down by any means; waking up early in the morning is a surefire way to enjoy all the lush vegetation and animals the trails have to offer. Visitors can hike the various paths by themselves or they can request a guide in the visitor’s center, but whatever you do please do not venture in by yourself since there have been reports of muggings in the area. How someone would actually come up with the idea of mugging unsuspecting hikers in the middle of a rainforest reserve is beyond me, but it does happen. So much so, in fact, that there are various legends of ghosts that haunt the roads that intersect the area, souls of women who have been murdered deep inside the visitor areas late at night, many years ago.

The creation of the Parque Natural Metropolitano dates back to the early 70’s when discussions were being had about what Panama would do with the reverted Panama Canal Zone territories the United States agreed to give up thanks to the Torrijos-Carter treaties. Talks about making the area a protected rainforest surfaced before cementing the treaties, but after the green light was given, the area was christened with the name of Area Recreativa de Curundú, or Curundu Recreation Area in English, in 1983. A year later, after a presidential tour around the premises, a proposal to turn the forest into the Metropolitan Natural Park was created through Law No. 8 of July 5^th, 1985.

During the time that Panama was a Spanish colony many centuries ago, The Metropolitan Natural Park was actually a pretty populated place. Freighters filled with gold and silver would leave Panama City in caravans that would eventually arrive at the Venta de Cruces colony, located next to the Chagres River. From there, the treasures would be transported in small transport ships to the city of Portobelo, which was one of the only ports in the New World authorized to dock the royal galleons that would take said gold and silver back to Spain. The path from Panama City to Venta de Cruces passed right by what we now know as the Parque Natural Metropolitano, at the time a land full of plantations, areas for cattle, inns and more within a rich rainforest background.

After the presidential tour of 1984, the Metropolitan Natural Park was founded on June 5^th, 1988. In 1989, three offices were created in order to upkeep the park: Protection, Environmental Education and Maintenance. Later that same year General Manuel Noriega, Panamanian dictator at the time, used the area as a training camp for the Panama Defense Force or Fuerzas de Defensa de Panamá in Spanish, restricting access to visitors in order to avoid any conflicts. Shortly thereafter, the park’s management decided to close the park to the public because rising tension against General Noriega and his trigger-happy defense forces were surely about to do something very stupid and, as part of their civic duty, decided to shut down the park to protect the lives of innocent civilians. After the “Just Cause” operation executed by the U.S. Army to overthrow General Noriega from power, the park was reopened for the public.

Unlike other protected areas in Panama’s isthmus, the Metropolitan Natural Park is administered by a patronage made up of representatives of various private and government entities such as the Panama City Mayor’s Office, the National Environment Authority (Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente, ANAM), the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the United Civic Associations (Asociaciones Cívicas Unidas, ACU), the Propagation and Research of Panamanian Species Association (Asociación para la Investigación y Propagación de las Especies Panameñas, AIPEP), the Panama Audobon Society (SAP), and the International Soroptimist International Club, Panama Pacific Division (Club Soroptimista Internacional Panamá Pacífico, SIPP).

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Filed under: History on March 10th, 2008