Coiba
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| Coiba National Park | |
|---|---|
 Isla Granito de Oro, Coiba National Park | |
  Location in Panama | |
| Location | Veraguas Province, Panama |
| Coordinates | 7°28′N 81°47′W / 7.467°N 81.783°W |
| Area | 503 square kilometres (194 sq mi) |
| Established | 1992 |
| Official name | Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | ix, x |
| Designated | 2005 (29th session) |
| Reference no. | 1138rev |
| Region | Latin America and the Caribbean |
Coiba is the largest island in Central America, with an area of 503 km2 (194 sq mi), off the Pacific coast of the Panamanian province of Veraguas. It is part of the Montijo District of that province.
History
Coiba separated from continental Panama about 12,000 to 18,000 years ago when sea levels rose. Plants and animals on the new island became isolated from mainland populations and over the millennia most animals have diverged in appearance and behaviour from their mainland counterparts. The island is home to many endemic subspecies, including the Coiba Island howler monkey, the Coiba agouti and the Coiba spinetail.
Coiba was home to the indigenous Coiba Cacique people until about 1560,[dubious – discuss] when they were conquered by the Spanish and forced into slavery.[citation needed]
In 1919 a penal colony was built on the island and during the years that Panama was under the dictatorships of Omar Torrijos and Manuel Noriega, the prison on Coiba was a feared place with a reputation for brutal conditions, extreme tortures, executions and political murder.
After the prison was closed down in 2004, the island's pristine condition made it ideal as a reserve. It is also one of the last places in Central America where the scarlet macaw can be found in large numbers in the wild. The island is about 75% forested with a large fraction standing ancient forest. Coiba Island is home to rare flora and fauna found only on the island.[1] The island also harbours tree species that have long disappeared from the mainland due to deforestation and overharvesting.
Coiba National Park
In 1992, Panama created Coiba National Park, encompassing over 1,042 square miles of islands, forests, beaches, mangroves and coral reefs, and in July 2005, Unesco declared it a World Heritage Site.[2] The park includes Coiba island, 38 smaller islands off the southwest coast of Panama, and the surrounding marine areas within the Gulf of Chiriquí[3] providing protection for coral reefs, humpback whales, pilot whales, killer whales, dolphins, sea turtles, manta rays, marlins and other marine creatures.[4]
Due to the Gulf of Chiriquí's capacity to buffer against the effects of El Niño temperature swings, the marine ecosystems within Coiba National Park harbor a high degree of biodiversity. The park harbors 760 species of marine fishes, 33 species of sharks and 20 species of cetaceans.[3]
Climate
Coiba has a tropical monsoon climate (Am) with moderate to little rainfall from January to April and heavy to very heavy rainfall from May to December.
| Climate data for Coiba Island | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.5 (94.1) |
35.2 (95.4) |
36.0 (96.8) |
36.5 (97.7) |
35.0 (95.0) |
33.6 (92.5) |
34.4 (93.9) |
32.5 (90.5) |
32.2 (90.0) |
32.0 (89.6) |
32.6 (90.7) |
34.2 (93.6) |
36.5 (97.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.0 (78.8) |
26.4 (79.5) |
26.9 (80.4) |
27.3 (81.1) |
26.9 (80.4) |
26.5 (79.7) |
26.3 (79.3) |
26.2 (79.2) |
26.0 (78.8) |
25.9 (78.6) |
26.0 (78.8) |
26.2 (79.2) |
26.4 (79.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) |
16.4 (61.5) |
16.0 (60.8) |
17.2 (63.0) |
19.0 (66.2) |
15.7 (60.3) |
19.0 (66.2) |
18.0 (64.4) |
20.0 (68.0) |
20.4 (68.7) |
19.4 (66.9) |
15.3 (59.5) |
15.3 (59.5) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 20.2 (0.80) |
36.6 (1.44) |
40.3 (1.59) |
123.2 (4.85) |
341.8 (13.46) |
377.2 (14.85) |
308.1 (12.13) |
411.0 (16.18) |
560.1 (22.05) |
625.9 (24.64) |
405.8 (15.98) |
153.3 (6.04) |
3,403.5 (134.01) |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 79.0 | 75.7 | 76.1 | 78.3 | 84.0 | 86.2 | 85.2 | 85.3 | 85.9 | 86.8 | 86.3 | 82.8 | 82.6 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 255.8 | 236.4 | 250.8 | 206.2 | 142.3 | 110.9 | 119.8 | 111.8 | 91.2 | 88.1 | 122.6 | 194.9 | 1,930.8 |
| Source: [5] | |||||||||||||
Biodiversity
1,450 species of vascular plants have been recorded on the island, with abundant specimens of Ceiba pentandra, Sterculia apetala, Anacardium excelsum, Carapa guianensis and Bombacopsis quinatum.
Since 1993, through a collaboration with the Spanish Agency for Cooperation, a biological station was created in the park that to date has registered 36 species of mammals, 147 of birds and 39 species of amphibians and reptiles, with a high degree of endemism such as the Coiba's ñeque (Dasyprocta coibae) and the Coiba howler monkey (Alouatta coibensis) among mammals, and the Coiba tail-spine (Cranioleuca dissita) among birds. Coiba is the only place in Panama where populations of scarlet macaws breed, almost extinct in the continental territory. The waters surrounding the island are also home to significant biodiversity: the coral reef at Damas Bay measures more than 135 ha, making it the second largest in the American tropical Pacific. To date, 69 species of marine fish, 12 of echinoderms, 45 of mollusks and 13 of crustaceans have been identified in the protected area.
References
- ^ "How a Deadly Prison Island Became a Natural Paradise". 29 April 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
- ^ Leonard, Thomas M. (2015). Historical Dictionary of Panama. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 81.
- ^ a b "Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection". UNESCO.
- ^ "The Coiba National Park, declared a world heritage site by UNESCO". Madrid. July 20, 2005.
- ^ http://www.hidromet.com.pa/clima_historicos.php [dead link]
External links
Coiba travel guide from Wikivoyage
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| National | |
