The Embera People: Guardians of the Forest: In the pristine jungle of the Chagres River Basin, less than an hour from Panama City, these indigenous peoples are developing a unique subsistence.

• Author: Balaguer, Alejandro
• Position: Essay

The Living Jungle

The tropical forest of the isthmus exhales vapor as the dawn comes. A cloak of green covers the hills and ravines as far as the eye can see to the foggy horizon. In the shadow of colossal trees rising more than 150 feet high above the other vegetation, our adventure begins. We arrive in Chagres National Park, one of the richest protected areas of Panama. With more than 250,000 acres of jungle, this is a place that holds extraordinary water resources. The Chagres River feeds the watershed of the Panama Canal area which joins the Pacific and Atlantic oceans and divides the country into two large regions: the eastern region, which provides the water for the Panama Canal; and the western region, an immense water and forest reserve. All of the water used in the canal is produced by copious rains and almost 50 percent of that moisture comes from the old-growth forest area.

Along the pathways of this great green Eden, our expedition is headed to the small villages of the legendary Embera people who continue to keep their traditional way of life alive.

We head upriver towards the headwaters of the Chagres, surrounded by pure paradise. Our long cayuco, hand-dug from of a single piece of wood, makes its way slowly upstream via oar-power, advancing between the patches of aquatic plants full of life. From the cayuco I can see tiger herons, with their distinct plumage; kingfishers catching sardines; and crocodiles with their long tails and scaly skin diving slowly into the chocolate colored waters. I am in search of the native guardians of the isthmus, a group of Embera indigenous people who live the way their ancestors did in a small community of raised huts with palm roofs on an island near the town of Gamboa. A few years ago, the Embera there decided to salvage their customs as a formula for sustainable development based on natural and cultural tourism.

As we get close to the island, we see other cayucos in action as natives cast their nets to catch the fish that are so abundant in this area. We tie the boat to the dock, and once on shore, I am welcomed by Melio Tocamo, a young Embera man who introduces himself as the "head of tourism" for the community. A small band of musicians with a dozen native men dressed in red loincloths accompany him. The women are lovely, dressed only in skirts and colorful necklaces, with headdresses made of fresh flowers. They offer their fine handicrafts with smiles and a friendliness that is hard to...