La Amistad

La Amistad International Park was established in Panama in 1988 and protects some 2,070 km² on the Panamanian side of the Talamanca range, in the provinces of Chiriquí and Bocas del Toro. In December 1990 it was inscribed on the World Heritage List as an extension of the Costa Rican property declared in 1983, forming one of the world's few transboundary properties.

The origin of the whole lies in a joint declaration by the presidents of the two countries in 1979. Today a Binational Technical Commission oversees the agreement and coordinates management among the numerous public and private bodies active in Talamanca. The complete property totals 570,045 hectares, of which 221,000 lie on the Panamanian side.

The Talamanca range is the highest and most rugged non-volcanic mountain chain in Central America and contains one of the principal blocks of natural forest left in the region, unmatched in altitudinal variation. Its position on the isthmus, where the faunas and floras of North and South America met once the land bridge closed, explains an extraordinary diversity: some 10,000 higher plants, 215 mammal species and more than 600 bird species, with a high degree of endemism. Four indigenous peoples live within the territory of the property.