Expand the Cerro Chucantí Reserve

Thanks to the generous support of the Rainforest Trust, we have most of the funds necessary to purchase a neighboring piece of land to expand the Cerro Chucantí Private Nature Reserve (CCPNR) – but we need your help to raise the rest.

The CCPNR is a private reserve owned and managed by the Adopt a Panama Rainforest Association (ADOPTA). This unique reserve is located near the top of Cerro Chucantí – the tallest peak in the Majé mountains on the border of Panama’s Darién province – and contains many rare and endangered species such as the Black Spider Monkey (Ateles fusiceps rufiventris) and Great Currasow (Crax rubra).

A rare, isolated cloud forest habitat (the nearest cloud forest is about 60 miles away) exists near Chucantí’s peak. This area has proven to be a hotspot for new and endemic species, with 18 new species of plants, insects, reptiles, and amphibians already described from the reserve since 2010 and dozens more in the process of being described! Most of these species are only found within the CCPNR and many have been suggested as Critically Endangered by their describing authors due to their limited range.

See https://www.adoptabosque.org/en/chucanti/new-species for more information on the species described from the reserve.

The CCPNR has also been declared an Import Bird Area by the Panama Audubon and a High Priority Area for Endemic Birds of the World (EBA 024: Darién Highlands) by Birdlife International due to species otherwise only found near the Colombian border – such as the Beautiful Treerunner (Margarornis bellulus), Varied Solitaire (Myadestes coloratus), and Russet-crowned Quail-dove (Zentrygon goldmani) – that were discovered living in Chucantí’s cloud forest.

Unfortunately, the forests around the reserve are threatened by deforestation for timber and agriculture. ADOPTA already owns 700 hectares (approximately 1,500 acres) of land as part of the CCPNR, but it is vital to expand this area to create a buffer zone that can adequately protect the cloud forest within the reserve.

Your donation will help expand this unique reserve and protect the new, unique, and often endangered species that live there.

For more information, visit www.adoptabosque.org/en/chucanti and find ADOPTA on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, & YouTube) @AdoptaBosque.