Chagres National Park

Chagres National Park
Chagres National Park
	IUCN category II (national park)
	Chagres National Park (top center) within Panama
Location	Panamá Province, Panama
Coordinates	9.4°N 79.5°W
Area	129,000 hectares (320,000 acres)
Established	1985
	Chagres National Park Foundation

The Chagres National Park is located between the Province of Panama and Colon, in the Eastern sector of the Panama Canal with a total surface area of 129,000 hectares (320,000 acres).

The park contains tropical rain forests and a set of rivers which provide sufficient water to guarantee the operation of the Gatun Lake, main lake of the Panama Canal: The Chagres River and the Gatun River.

Panama Canal Watershed

The park was created in 1985,[1] with the aim of preserving the natural forest that composes it

to produce water in amount and quality sufficient to guarantee the normal operation of the Panama Canal[2][3]
to supply potable water for the cities of Panama, Colon and la Chorrera,
and the generation of electricity for the cities of Panama and Colon.

For the operation of the Panama Canal it is necessary to maintain high water levels, since each boat that crosses the locks needs around 52 million nonrecoverable gallons of fresh water.

References

Ecotourismpanama.com
The Status of the Panama Canal Watershed and Its Biodiversity at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Long-term ecological studies reveal a diverse flora and fauna near the Panama Canal, harbored within a corridor of forest stretching from the Caribbean to the Pacific, but deforestation, land degradation, erosion, and overhunting remain threats
Wadsworth FH. 1978. Deforestation: Death to the Panama Canal. Pages 22–24 in Proceedings of the US Strategy Conference on Tropical Deforestation. Washington (DC): US Department of State and US Agency for International Development.

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[1] Ecotourismpanama.com

[2] The Status of the Panama Canal Watershed and Its Biodiversity at the Beginning of the 21st Century: Long-term ecological studies reveal a diverse flora and fauna near the Panama Canal, harbored within a corridor of forest stretching from the Caribbean to the Pacific, but deforestation, land degradation, erosion, and overhunting remain threats

[3] Wadsworth FH. 1978. Deforestation: Death to the Panama Canal. Pages 22–24 in Proceedings of the US Strategy Conference on Tropical Deforestation. Washington (DC): US Department of State and US Agency for International Development.