Three marine protected areas won Blue Park Awards for outstanding marine wildlife conservation at the 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) the Marine Conservation Institute announced on February 5. ).The three areas awarded this year are: Pitcairn Islands Marine Protected Area (Pitcairn Islands, United Kingdom), the Cordillera de Coiba Managed Resources Area (Panama) and the Tupinambás Ecological Station and the Archipelago Wildlife Refuge. Gannets (Brazil).The new blue parks have a total area of ​​​​910,516 km2 (351,552 mi2) and join a growing network of 27 awardees across the global ocean who have met the highest science-based standards for conservation effectiveness.Their addition brings the blue park systems to a total of 2,744,687 km2 (1,059,730 mi2) of effectively protected ocean in the waters of 22 countries around the world, Marine Conservation Institute President Lance Morgan announced along with representatives. of the Science Council and former winners of the Blue Park Award.

Cordillera de Coiba wins the Blue Park award
Huge humpback whales from the South Pacific migrate to our tropical waters to breed and give birth to their young. Coiba is one of those privileged places where it can be observed. Shutterstock
Specifically, the Cordillera de Coiba Managed Resources Area was reported to have won the prestigious award in the Gold category for its exceptional conservation of marine wildlife, joining a growing network of award-winning blue parks. Cordillera de Coiba will receive $8,000 in recognition.“These marine protected areas offer protection to critical marine ecosystems, revitalize the health of the oceans, and benefit the livelihoods and well-being of local communities. We hope that other governments and communities will see these outstanding blue parks as examples of strong and effective commitments to protect the oceans that they too could follow,” Morgan said.The role of the Cordillera de CoibaThe Cordillera de Coiba Managed Resources Area was created in September 2015 with an initial area of ​​​​17,223.52 km², and expanded by Executive Decree 138 of June 8, 2021.
Cordillera de Coiba wins the Blue Park award
The Coiba National Park is a natural reserve, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2005. Larish Julio | The Star of Panama
With the expansion, Panama adds an additional 50,518.84 km2 to the Coiba protected area, reaching a total of 98,228.25 km2 of marine protected areas throughout the country and reached the goal of the 30X30 initiative, nine years earlier than stipulated, which affirms the Panama’s commitment to protecting the health and biodiversity of the oceans.The Coiba mountain range is a mountain range that rises from the mainland where Coiba is and continues south towards the Malpelo Islands, joins the Galapagos and then Cocos.Formed by strong tectonic activity, the mountain range protects more than 67,900 km2 of deep-sea ecosystems off the Pacific coast of Panama.It harbors a unique underwater topography, encompassing nine mountain ranges, 24 seamounts and one abyssal trench, creating a diversity of critical deep benthic habitat.

Cordillera de Coiba wins the Blue Park award
Coiba seas are home to a diversity of fish and other marine life. Laesh Jul | The Star of Panama
The unique topography combined with the complex convergence of currents in the Tropical Eastern Pacific promotes high productivity within the Coiba Range, attracting a wide range of highly migratory and threatened species.Large pelagic predators, including sharks, billfish, and tunas, frequent the Coiba Ridge, and at least 14 species of marine mammals are known to use the marine protected area for feeding or migrating.“The Cordillera de Coiba plays an important role in the processes of ecological connectivity of the highly migratory species that move along this area of ​​​​the Pacific, so the efforts for its protection ensure the important biological processes that are shared between the different countries ( Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia and Panama) that make it up”, explained the Pro Tempore Technical Secretary of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR), José Julio Casas.He announced that they are currently working on the generation of a proposal to submit to Unesco a file for the creation of a 500,000 km2 transboundary marine reserve to protect an area of ​​high ecological connectivity and one of the most important marine migratory routes in the world, where Cordillera de Coiba will play a fundamental role.“The Blue Parks initiative recognizes the outstanding efforts of governments, non-profit organizations, marine protected area managers and local communities working to protect ocean wildlife,” said Blue Parks Program Director Sarah Hameed.And it is that Blue Parks provides a standard for marine protection to ensure that it really safeguards marine biodiversity. “We are delighted to welcome the new marine protected areas to the Blue Parks Network,” Hameed commented.Regarding the recognition of the Coiba Mountain Range, the Minister of the Environment of Panama, Milciades Concepción, said that the focus of Panama and the entity it directs is to continue working hand in hand with national and international actors for the care of the oceans.”With this award, Panama reinforces its position as a blue leader and continues to establish strategies to conserve the sea, its fauna and all the services generated from this important natural resource,” said Concepción upon receiving this award.The National Director of Protected Areas and Biodiversity of the Ministry of Environment of Panama, José Victoria, for his part, expressed that “without a doubt, this represents recognition of the conservation effort of hundreds of people between entities, the scientific community and civil society , who They worked tirelessly to guarantee the protection of these ecosystems rich in biodiversity and promote the development of information based on scientific standards”.
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