In the heart of Darién, the forest still breathes, though not without struggle. For decades, cattle ranching, illegal logging, and unrestrained development have chipped away at its canopy, threatening the future of the rainforest and the species that define it. Among them, the harpy eagle—Panama’s national bird—remains a sentinel in the sky, its survival intertwined with the fate of the forest itself.
Yet within this fragile balance, communities are writing another story. In places like La Marea, Paya, and Púcuro, families have turned to the land not as a resource to be exhausted, but as a partner to be cared for. With the support of Rapaces y Bosques in alliance with the PPD, they have built a model of conservation that grows from the ground up: tracking nests, restoring habitats, and weaving livelihood with stewardship. Ecotourism offers a way to share the richness of the forest without depleting it, while agroforestation brings back shade, soil, and sustenance—trees planted today as both promise and inheritance.
This work resists easy headlines. It is patient, deliberate, rooted in daily acts: the slow return of green to cleared fields, the quiet watch for wings overhead, the choice to cultivate rather than consume. In these gestures, conservation is no longer an abstract cause but a lived practice, a form of resilience grounded in community.
Darién is more than a landscape—it is a living text, written in rivers, in soil, in flight. And as long as the forest stands, so too will the story of those who protect it: a reminder that hope can be planted, and that from the smallest seeds, entire futures may grow.
Assignment for Rapaces y Bosques Fundacion and Small Grants Programme
