Article Courtesy from
Business Panama
Panama Central Canal Area
Ecotourism Investment Opportunity
On January 18, 2005 the Government of Panama, through the National
Environmental Authority (ANAM) which administers protected areas in Panama,
issued a public invitation for a services and administration concession in
Soberania National Park. Interested parties are being sought to co-invest in
the 1) design, construction, and concession operation of a visitors center on
a two hectare site; 2) the design, development and operation of two new
ecotourism attractions to be proposed by the concessionaire (such as canopy
walks and interpretation trails); and 3) the improvement and concessional
operation of two existing trails in the Park (Plantation Road and the historic
Camino de Cruces). The Government of Panama has reserved $150,000 and the
United States Agency for International Development has reserved $400,000 in a
contract with the Academy for Educational Development for co investment with
the concessionaire in the site development and infrastructure that will be
operated by the concessionaire.
Soberania National Park is a 19,700 hectare park that borders the Panama Canal
and is only a half hour drive from Panama City. It was the first part of the
old U.S. administered Canal Zone that was transferred back to the Government
of Panama in 1980. The park is a mature tropical rainforest that has world
recognition as an excellent bird watching destination and also has the largest
well preserved remnant of the historic Spanish Colonial Camino de Cruces, the
primary trans Isthmus crossing used before the completion of the Panama
Railroad in 1855 and the Panama Canal in 1914. A recent study on the tourism
potential of Soberania National Park conducted by George Washington University
in June 2005 is available in PDF format on http://www.aedpanama.org/aed/multimedia/documentos/149.pdf.
The two hectare site reserved for the location of the visitor’s center is on
the Rio Obispo next to the Summit Park. It is on the main road parallel to the
canal between Panama City and the Gamboa Rainforest Resort in Gamboa that was
opened in 2000. Strategically it is expected that the Soberania National Park
Visitors Center will be the portal and first stop for tourists visiting the
central canal area for ecotourism purposes. Central canal ecotourism
destinations include the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, Canopy Tower Lodge, Summit
Park, Summit Golf Course Resort, the Tropical Rainforest Discovery Center at
Pipeline Road, attractions within Soberania National Park such as the Camino
de Cruces, the indigenous villages of San Antonio and Ella Puru on the Chagres
River, and attractions on Lake Gatun and the canal itself accessible by boat
such as Monkey Island and fishing for peacock bass.
The interpretative message at the Visitors Center would be strongly linked
with the Frank Gehry designed Biodiversity Museum on the Amador Causeway in
Panama City that is under construction as well as with the nearby Miraflores
Locks Visitors Center on the Panama Canal.
The overall administration of the Soberania National Park would remain with
ANAM. The concessionaire would collect fees for entrance and use of the park
and would enter into an agreement with ANAM for transfer of part of these fees
to ANAM with the remainder as income for the concessionaire. The
concessionaire can charge and retain 100% of the profits for the use of the
ecotourism attractions it will build and operate as well as any businesses it
may choose to establish, such as gift shops and restaurants. All proposed
construction and activities would have to conform with ANAM´s master plan for
Soberania National Park.
Evaluation criteria to be used for selection of the concessionaire include
experience with similar projects, amount of funds to be invested by the
concessionaire, technical qualifications of people assigned to the project by
the concessionaire, business skills of company, financial capacity, and the
quality of the business proposal. The public offer document can be seen on
www.anam.gob.pa. However, interested parties can submit an offer only if they
have formally obtained the written public offering document at the offices of
the Center for Water in the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC)
from 8:00 a.m. a 4:00 p.m. in Panama City by paying a nonreimbursable fee of
$100. On February 13, 2006 at 10am there will be a public meeting conducted at
CATHALAC with interested parties to answer any questions regarding. The
offices of CATHALAC are located in the City of Knowledge, Building No. 801, in
the installations of old Fort Clayton in front of the Miraflores Locks of the
Panama Canal.
Inquiries on the use of the $400,000 in USAID funds administered by AED can be
directed to the AED offices in Panama City by calling (country code 507) 213
1383 or by email to brudert@cableonda.net.
