Soberanía

Soberanía National Park was established in 1980 along the eastern bank of the Panama Canal, between Gamboa and Panama City, and protects some 194 km² of tropical rainforest.

Its function is in part hydrological: the forests of the canal watershed regulate the flow that feeds the locks and hold back the sediment that would otherwise silt up Lake Gatún, so that conserving the park is a matter of national strategic interest. That relationship between forest and infrastructure is one of the most cited examples of an ecosystem service with direct economic value.

Ornithologically it is famous: Pipeline Road, a track opened during the Second World War that crosses the park, is regarded as one of the best places in the world for birdwatching, and world records for species seen in twenty-four hours have been set on it several times, with figures above three hundred. The park is home to the harpy eagle, Panama's national bird, toucans, cotingas and a fauna that includes howler monkeys, sloths, coatis and cats. Its territory also preserves cobbled stretches of the Camino de Cruces, the route by which the silver of Peru was carried towards the Atlantic in colonial times.