The conference comes at a time when one of the most important wetlands in the Americas is under threat.

The Panama Bay (Bahía de Panamá) wetlands, a vast stretch of mudflats, mangroves and other habitats stretching for over 150 kilometres to the east of Panama City, is an exceptionally important place for migrating shorebirds and other species.

Shorebirds are among nature’s most ambitious, long-distance migrants. But they are particularly dependent on specific coastal sites like Panama Bay, which act as both staging areas, where they feed and rest in preparation for their long migrations, or wintering areas, where large numbers of birds find refuge for several months and undertake feather moults. Each fall, virtually the entire population of Western Sandpipers travels from Boundary Bay in British Columbia to Panama Bay each year. Both sites are globally significant Important Bird Area sites. Through the Important Bird Areas program, we are working with our BC partners to conserve the Boundary Bay IBA for future generations of birds and people, and Nature Canada has worked with our BirdLife International partner, Audubon Panama, for nearly a decade to conserve Panama Bay.

Despite Panama Bay’s crucial importance to the birds and people of Panama, the Panama Bay wetlands have come under threat. In May the Panama Supreme Court suspended the protected area designation following a legal challenge by supporters of resort development on the mangrove forests closest to Panama City. At the same time, the Governing Body of the Autoridad de los Recursos Acuáticos de Panamá (Panama’s Aquatic Resources Authority) reduced the fees for the use of mangroves, and the fines for illegal mangrove clearance. These changes leave the Panama Bay wetlands, and other mangrove wetlands in Panama, highly vulnerable. Developers are poised to start filling in mangroves and dredging to create marinas, golf courses and housing.

• The Panama Bay wetlands provide food and shelter for juvenile stages of commercially valuable fish and shrimp that contribute shrimp that contribute $86 million a year to Panama’s economy. Sediments in these mangroves trap pesticides and other damaging chemicals from agricultural and urban runoff and keep them from entering the marine food chain.

• Panama Bay’s mangroves and low-lying landward areas significantly decrease the risk of flooding and the impacts of severe weather on Panama’s coastal zone by providing a sink for storm waters. Furthermore, mangrove ecosystems worldwide are also now known to be vital carbon sequestration areas, more important per hectare than terrestrial ecosystems.

• There are 27 species of fiddler crabs in the Panama Bay wetlands, more than any other place in the world. Globally threatened wildlife includes American Crocodile, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Tapir and Geoffroy’s Spider Monkey, as well as several mangrove tree species.

• Between 1 and 2 million shorebirds of more than 30 species use the bay during their annual southward migration. For many migratory shorebird species that breed in the Canadian Arctic, Subarctic or Boreal Forest, significant percentages of the global population depend on the bay, including Western Sandpiper (31% of the global population, most of them females), Semipalmated Plover (20%) and Semipalmated Sandpiper (8%). The bay is key to maintaining the Pacific coast population of other species, including Black-bellied Plover(6%), Short-billed Dowitcher (8%), Whimbrel (22%) and Willet (12%).