Panama recently expanded the limits of the Banco Volcán Area of Managed Resources (Banco Volcán AMR) to further protect and steward important marine ecosystems, endangered flora and fauna, and important fishing resources found within Panama’s territorial waters in the Caribbean Sea. The expansion increases the size of the Banco Volcán AMR from approximately 14,200 sq km to over 90,000 sq km, with at least half of the total zone designated as a fully protected marine area where no extractive or environmentally damaging activities will be allowed.
With this act Panama achieves the protection of more than 50% of its total marine area, becoming one of the few nations globally to reach such a milestone—and the only one in Latin America—and significantly surpasses the goal of protecting at least 30% of the country’s marine area by 2030 (30×30), an international target recently adopted by roughly 190 countries during the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference and that scientists say is critical to help stop the global loss of biodiversity.