Panama wildlife vacation

Planet

In Panama (as with everywhere we go) we carefully choose accommodation, suppliers and transportation that either minimise their effect on the environment or that help to contribute to its sustainable development.

CARBON REDUCTION

On this trip we drive in one vehicle when making ground transfers, so to reduce emissions by not using more than one vehicle. We also use the shuttle service that the accommodation used which pools together people and so further reduces per person emissions.

The accommodation we use in Panama practice strict conservation and energy-saving policies to protect their rainforest ecosystems, which are details below

Energy and Resource Management
• Lighting: The properties use energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs to cut energy use by 80% compared to standard incandescent bulbs, and keep exterior perimeter lighting minimal to avoid disrupting nocturnal wildlife.

• Climate Control: Air conditioning is omitted from the main lodges, relying instead on natural airflow and ceiling fans.

• Water Conservation: Guests are asked to take short showers, and water supplies are shut off during late-night hours to lower consumption and reduce noise in the metal structure.

• Structure Recycling: The iconic Canopy Tower repurposes an abandoned Cold War-era U.S. military radar installation inside Soberanía National Park rather than building new structures on cleared land.

Conservation and Social Responsibility

• Forest Protection: The Canopy Family invests in socially responsible forestry initiatives like Planting Empowerment to expand native tropical hardwood reforestation and carbon sequestration in Panama.

• Low-Impact Tourism: Operations are scaled to support wildlife observation and education, blending tourism directly with research and local biodiversity preservation.

Waste Reduction & Sustainable Sourcing

• Zero Single-Use Plastics: The lodges have eliminated single-use plastic bottles. Guests are issued reusable bottles to use at filtered water filling stations, and bathrooms are equipped with refillable bulk soap and shampoo dispensers.

• Reclaimed Material Architecture: When modifying structures, the organization utilizes sustainable materials like certified teak alongside reclaimed Panama Canal Zone wood, salvaged railroad ties, and recycled newspaper insulation.

• Organic Waste & Gray Water: Food waste from the kitchens is systematically composted. Outflow gray water is rerouted into garden irrigation networks rather than contaminating local stream systems.

Food is locally sourced where possible and vegetarian meals can be provided.

ENVIRONMENT AND WILDLIFE

As touched on above, we visit accommodation which has very strict environmental policies in place to reduce their impact on the surrounding environment.

The Canopy Family (the parent organization managing the Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge) integrates wildlife conservation directly into its day-to-day hospitality model. They view ecotourism as an instrument of conservation and research, prioritizing habitat preservation over traditional tourist infrastructure.

Wildlife Protection & Research Support
• Mitigating Human Impact: The properties strictly limit internal and external perimeter lighting at night to prevent disorienting nocturnal wildlife, such as owl monkeys and night jars.

• Passive Wildlife Monitoring: The Canopy Family partners with scientific institutions like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to host live fruit and hummingbird feeder webcams. These feeds provide continuous, non-invasive data on migratory patterns and local biodiversity.

• Active Anti-Poaching and Surveillance: Because Panama's environmental authority faces severe staffing limits to police vast reserves, the lodges actively help maintain and monitor local trails, like Old Plantation Road in Soberanía National Park. This consistent presence deters illegal loggers and poachers.

• National Bird Advocacy: They fund specialized field trips for local children through Environmental Brigades to educate the next generation on protecting endangered species, specifically focusing on Panama’s national bird, the Harpy Eagle.

Community-Led Conservation

• Eco-Guide Training: The Canopy Family runs dedicated training programs for local indigenous youths. They supply binoculars, spotting scopes, and field books to train local community members as professional birding guides, providing an economic alternative to cattle ranching and deforestation.

• NGO Leadership: The leadership of the Canopy Family sits on the boards of Panama's most influential environmental groups, including ANCON (Panama's oldest conservation organization) and Fundación AVIFAUNA.

People

LOCAL ECONOMY

All of the accommodation we use when in Panama islocally owned. Meaning that all of the money for these stays enters and stays in the local economy. With any of our tours throughout Latin America or elsewhere in the world we always employ local guides and drivers. We also do our best to employ as many local guides as possible, so that we can share the money from tourism around more than one regularly used guide.

On this trip our guide is from the local forested area within Panama. The staff employed at the private, locally run lodges throughout the trip are overwhelmingly from the local area, many of them indigenous.

This not just helps in supporting the local people with income direct from wildlife tourism but these local people often have much better local knowledge of the wildlife.

We encourage the purchasing of locally, homemade handicrafts and food products (honeys, preserves etc) we promote these to our clients.

EMPLOYMENT, INCLUSIVITY & DIVERSITY

All of the people employed as part of this trip are from Panama and many of the drivers we employ are from the local communities we are visiting for wildlife.

We work hard to provide a genuine pathway from driver to guide, by helping educate English speaking as well as providing coaching and informal training on guiding techniques. We also donate equipment which can help in this progression in the form of binoculars, field guide books and torches.

This trip, like all of our trips, is LGBTQ+ friendly.

A lot of this trip is conducted on foot, and there are many days spent where you need to climb stairs to get up to canopy walkways and accommodation high into the forest. So people with severe mobility issues will struggle, the trip is not wheelchair safe. There are also a couple of small boat trips which require people to hold on tight to the boat to get out of the lagoon into the sea which can be rough for a very short amount of time.