Introduction To UNESCO World Heritage Sites

In 1945, the United Nations created UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Among other things, this agency is tasked to identify UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It also provides publicity and some support for these sites. Panama has five of these sites. This is a brief introduction to some of them.

UNESCO selects locations to be designated as World Heritage Sites based on either their cultural or natural significance, or both. Panama has a total of 5 recognized sites. It has been blessed with not only natural points of interest, but with cultural and historical ones as well.

Being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site is considered to be very significant, as there are only 890 such sites throughout the world. Being on the list is a great form of publicity, as the selection process is widely held to be based on real world factors rather than political influence. Besides publicity, UNESCO also sponsors conservation activities in some cases.

The initial Panamanian World Heritage Site was Fortifications on the Caribbean Side of Panama: Portobelo-San Lorenzo, which received recognition in 1980. Portobelo and San Lorenzo were both forts established by the Spanish to strengthen their defenses. During this period, the 17th and 18th centuries, there were a number of attacks and counterattacks.

Archaeological Site of Panama Viejo and Historic District of Panama was added to the list in 1997. It includes the site of Panama Viejo, the first European settlement on the Pacific Ocean. It was established in 1519 and abandoned after it was destroyed by the privateer Henry Morgan in 1671. Some call him a pirate, he seemed to favor attacking this area, perhaps because of the wealth present.

The second site to be recognized was Darien National Park, which was added in 1981. The largest park in the country, it is one of the most important wildlife refuges in Central America. It provides enough space to be a practical and safe habitat for many endangered species. There are a large number of different habitats within its borders. Within the park there are two Indian tribes still maintaining a primitive lifestyle.

Coiba Island is the heart of our final site, Coiba National Park and its Special Zone of Marine Protection, added in 2005. It includes a number of smaller islands and the water around them. The island has been separate from the mainland long enough for a number of unique species to develop. One of these is the crested eagle, which lives nowhere else and is considered endangered. Coral reefs are uncommon on the Pacific side. Coiba has one of the few large ones. There was a lot of fear of the penal colony that was located on Coiba until it closed in 2004. This seems to be a reason that the island was not very developed or exploited.

The presence of these World Heritage Sites is strong evidence that the Canal is by far not the only object of interest in this relatively small country. It is easy to see why tourism is such a major part of the local economy. Panama certainly appears to be a great place to visit.

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