Panama Mangrove Conservation Action Request (PAMAR)
PANAMA ACTION REQUEST
Launching PAMAR in Panama
At a kickoff event in Panama, IPOS officially launched the Panama Mangrove Conservation Action Request (PAMAR), in close collaboration with Panama’s Ministry of Environment.
PAMAR is a one-year project that will support Panama in harmonizing its legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of mangroves, critical ecosystems for biodiversity, climate mitigation, and coastal resilience.
Following the launch, IPOS and the Ministry presented PAMAR to the National Wetlands Committee of Panama, fostering dialogue and forming integral connections across institutions.
Field Visit to Bahía de Chame
As part of the launch of the PAMAR, IPOS had the opportunity to visit the mangroves of Bahía de Chame with representatives from the Panamanian Ministry of Environment, including the Directorate of Coasts and Seas (DICOMAR), the Directorate of Climate Change (DCC), the Regional Directorate, and the Sistema Nacional de Areas Protegidas (SINAP).
Located along Panama’s Pacific coast, Bahía de Chame forms part of a vast and highly productive coastal wetland system within the Gulf of Panama.
Its ecosystem creates ideal conditions for mangrove development, supports exceptional ecological richness, and serves as a critical nursery habitat for fish and mollusks that underpin local fisheries. It also provides refuge for a wide diversity of wildlife, including many migratory bird species.
Beyond biodiversity, Bahía de Chame delivers essential ecosystem services. Its mangroves act as natural defenses against coastal erosion, improve water quality by trapping sediments and pollutants, and play a key role in climate regulation through significant blue carbon storage.
At the same time, Bahía de Chame illustrates the broader challenges facing mangroves in Panama, including pressures from coastal development, resource overuse, and pollution, as well as governance and regulatory complexities.
As we work to provide implementation pathways for the PAMAR Action Request, Bahía de Chame will be an ideal field study site and particularly relevant for strengthening collaboration across science, policy, and local communities.
PAMAR Hybrid Working Group Kick-Off
On 22–23 June 2026, the PAMAR Hybrid Working Group (HWG) officially launched its work during a two-day Kick-Off Workshop in Panama City. Bringing together the experts of the HWG, representatives of Panama’s Ministry of Environment and the IPOS project team, the workshop established a shared understanding of the main challenges surrounding mangrove governance in Panama and laid the foundations for the work to be carried out over the following months.
The workshop was complemented by a field visit to Chame Bay, allowing participants to connect the legal, institutional, ecological and socio-economic issues discussed during the working sessions with the realities of a key mangrove territory. The discussions and observations gathered during these two days subsequently fed into the preparation of PAMAR’s Preliminary Analysis
PAMAR participates in the 3rd International Congress “Mangroves of America” in Panama
In July 2026, the PAMAR project team and part of its Hybrid Working Group participated in the 3rd Congress “Mangroves of America” in Panama City, bringing the project into a broader regional dialogue on mangrove conservation, restoration and sustainable management.
During a side event dedicated to PAMAR, representatives of IPOS, Panama’s Ministry of Environment and experts of the Hybrid Working Group presented the Action Request, its objectives and working methodology, and discussed some of the key challenges facing mangrove governance in Panama. The Congress also provided an opportunity to exchange with scientists, practitioners, public authorities and organizations working on mangroves across the Americas, and to establish new connections that will contribute to PAMAR’s work over the coming months.
The Hybrid Working Group discloses PAMAR’s Preliminary Analysis
Read the full Preliminary Analysis:
In English: https://shorturl.at/Lufbr
In Spanish: https://shorturl.at/zG2I9
Find the Suggestion Box here : https://forms.gle/xG9Tr5etbktb2g2v9
In August 2026, the PAMAR Hybrid Working Group released its Preliminary Analysis, a working document establishing a common knowledge base on mangrove governance in Panama, to guide the next stages of the Action Request.
Developed by the members of the HWG Core Team and reviewed and complemented by the relevant directorates of Panama’s Ministry of Environment, the analysis examines four main areas: the fundamental value of mangroves in Panama and the need to strengthen their governance; the current legal, institutional and scientific framework; the main regulatory, institutional, technical, scientific and socio-economic challenges and gaps; and the key orientations that will guide the HWG’s work and the development of PAMAR’s four main deliverables.
The Preliminary Analysis is intended as a working and scoping document rather than a final project output. Its publication is accompanied by an open Suggestion Box, through which stakeholders, partners, experts and other interested actors can contribute additional information, references, experiences and recommendations. These contributions will be carefully studied and considered by the Hybrid Working Group as its experts move into the next phase of its work, strengthening PAMAR’s participatory and whole-of-society approach.
Join PAMAR as an Expert in its Hybrid Working Group
IPOS is assembling a Hybrid Working Group (HWG) composed of leading experts and knowledge holders from different disciplines and knowledge systems or with context-specific experience to prepare and validate the synthesis and outputs of this request.
Apply by May 4th, 2026
For inquiries related to the request or to propose avenues for collaboration, contact us at:
