Organizations conducting long-term environmental research in Panama include ANCON, Fundacion Natura, INRENARE, PCC, STRI and the University of Panama. Each organization and its activities are described below.

The Associacion Nacional por la Conservacion de la Naturaleza (ANCON) is an NGO associated with the Nature Conservancy in the USA. ANCON maintains a biodiversity database targeted on the national parks of Panama. The database includes literature records and new records collected by ANCON biologists, including a botanist, an ecologist and a zoologist. ANCON has also made tremendous contributions to conservation and the development of environmental awareness in the Republic of Panama.

The Fundacion Natura is an NGO charged with the administration of an endowment made by USAID and the Government of Panama and dedicated to environmental research. The Fundacion Natura does not conduct research. Rather, Fundacion Natura administers a competitive grants program that offers an important in-country funding source for environmental research interpreted broadly.

The Instituto de Recursos Naturales Renovables (INRENARE) is an independent institute of the government of the Republic of Panama charged with the management of natural renewable resources. INRENARE grants permits to conduct research within the Republic of Panama and to export/import scientific specimens. The permit process is appropriate, reporting requirements are reasonable, and fees are modest. This insures that the international scientific community can function in the Republic of Panama.

INRENARE also maintains the national park system. The 16 national parks and a number of smaller protected areas cover nearly 2,000,000 hectares or nearly 300f the land surface of the Republic. INRENARE, in collaboration with international organizations, sponsors some 15 research projects in the national parks. Examples include "Aguila Harpia" with the Peregrine Fund, "BioDarien" with the United Nations Development Fund, and "Sustainable Management of Cativo Forests" with the International Tropical Timber Organization and STRI all in the Darien National Park.

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) has been based in Panama since 1947. Its roots, however, date to the 1920's. The 30 resident staff scientists include biologists, three anthropologists and one geologist. The resident staff has accumulated more than 500 years of research experience in the Neotropics. STRI also operates field stations and laboratories. Marine stations occupy a fringing reef at Galeta point and coral reefs in the San Blas islands. STRI administers the Barro Colorado Nature Monument and Barro Colorado Island for the Republic of Panama. A long-term environmental monitoring program has been in place on BCI since 1971, and now provides 25-yr records of population fluctuations in a wide range of organisms and experimental studies of causation. STRI also maintains a field station in cloud forest at La Fortuna and canopy cranes in dry and wet lowland forests on the Pacific and Caribbean sides of the former canal area. More than 350 visiting investigators complement the resident scientific staff each year.

The Panama Canal Commission (PCC) maintains 26 meteorological stations in the watershed of the Panama canal. The PCC does not conduct research. However, the long-term meteorological records which begin as early as 1860 represent an important resource.

The University of Panama has 54,000 students and an annual budget of about $60,000,000. The university houses the national herbarium and the "Museo de Invertebrados Graham B. Fairchild". Masters degrees are offered in mathematics, entomology and environmental biology.

The environmental biology program matriculated its first students in 1996. The entomology program is a regional center of excellence, receiving funding from the United Nations and the governments of Denmark and Germany. Students are drawn from the Caribbean, Central America and Colombia. Finally, the University initiated the Instituto de Biodiversidad in 1995. This institute recently received funding for biodiversity studies of the Bayano watershed in eastern Panama.

The Universidad Santa Maria La Antigua (USMA) is the largest and oldest private university in Panama. Enrollment is 5000. USMA has recently inaugurated three environmentally related master's degrees programs: environmental sciences, biotechnology and tropical epidemiology.

The Univeridad Tecnologica de Panama (UTP) grew out of the engineering departments of the University of Panama. Enrollment is 7000. UTP graduates most of the engineers in Panama, including the fields of hydrology and soils.

A network of long-term environmental research sites does not exist at this time. Relations between the principal research entities are cordial but largely informal. A network that included INRENARE, ANCON, STRI and the University of Panama is a desirable goal.