‘Talking won’t save the planet’: uniting efforts to save Panama’s parks

“I wish you could hear this picture; it was taken just after daybreak and the birds’ dawn chorus was in full swing. Here, I’m standing with a guardaparque — a park ranger — hoping for a rare sighting of an orange-bellied trogon (Trogon collaris aurantiiventris) or a violet-bellied hummingbird (Chlorestes julie) in the Altos de Campana National Park in Panama.

As minister of the environment for the Panamanian government, I made this trek as part of my tour of 26 of Panama’s national parks and protected areas, during my first 100 days in office. I met with scientists, guardaparques and administrators to review the 12-month plan for this park. In September 2024, I visited Coiba National Park, a protected island and UNESCO World Heritage Site, accompanied by Edgardo Diaz-Ferguson, who leads the scientific research station on Coiba, studying the ocean and island life.

We want to collaborate with more international scientists to understand our biological heritage better and improve our park-management plans. All conservation in the future must be science-based, have community support and be done with private-sector involvement; we need to work together to safeguard our biodiversity and fight climate change.

Enjoying our latest content?
Login or create an account to continue

• Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team
• Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research

Access through your institution

or

Sign in or create an account Continue with Google Continue with ORCiD

Nature 638, 852 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00463-y

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

This story originally appeared on: Nature - Author:Esme Hedley