Panama City, September 11, 2025. Panama today launched the Center for Coordination for the Monitoring, Preservation and Protection of the Marine and Coastal Ecosystem, the first interagency facility of its kind in the region of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR).
Under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment, the Center was made possible by a grant from the Bezos Earth Fund, within the Project to Strengthen Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in the CMAR, executed through WildAid, coordinated by Fundación PACÍFICO, and supported by the Joint Analytical Cell (JAC).
The Coordination Center brings together operational and analytical capabilities for monitoring the marine–coastal ecosystem and coordinating responses to incidents and threats. The facility will enable interoperability of data and tools—including vessel traffic, meteorology, alerts, tracking and enforcement—as well as operational links among marine protected areas and the country’s security, fisheries and maritime authorities.
Juan Carlos Navarro, Minister of Environment, who led the inaugural event, stated: “This Center, the first in the region, will align control and surveillance efforts against threats such as illegal fishing, marine pollution and biodiversity loss, through cutting-edge technology and interagency cooperation.”
The Minister added: “With this Center we move from working in isolation to operating as one system. Real-time information and coordination among institutions will allow us to anticipate risks, protect our seas and enforce the law more effectively.”
Jair Urriola Quiroz, Executive Secretary of CMAR, added: “CMAR advances when we act as one bloc. This center in Panama is a concrete step toward the regional interoperability we need to safeguard migratory routes and shared ecological corridors. The goal is to connect and replicate these capacities across the four countries.”
For her part, Patricia León, representative of the Bezos Earth Fund, noted: “A healthy ocean is essential to people’s well-being and to biodiversity. With this center—integrating technology, data and cooperation—we are helping Panama and the region move from detection to action, speeding up effective responses to illegal fishing and other threats.”
According to Zuleika Pinzón, Projects Coordinator at Fundación PACÍFICO, “This milestone confirms that cooperation works and that coordination and articulation are the way to strengthen the governance of our seas. When we bring together science, technology and political will, we close the gaps exploited by illegal fishing.”
Alonso Fraire, Latin America Manager at WildAid, emphasized: “Our work focuses on providing the right tools—such as specialized equipment—and strengthening the monitoring, control and surveillance capacities of our partners. With better tracking systems, common protocols and the necessary equipment, we turn information into coordinated operations, effective deterrence and successful cases against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.”
Created by Executive Decree No. 15 of 2022, the Center aligns with national and international conservation commitments—including the 30×30 target—and strengthens regional cooperation within CMAR, where Panama shares ecological corridors and biological routes with Ecuador, Costa Rica and Colombia.
Procurement and outfitting for the new Center were carried out through WildAid, as a co-executing partner of the Project to Strengthen Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in the CMAR, implemented by Fundación PACÍFICO with funding from the Bezos Earth Fund. In recent months, the Project has begun delivering specialized equipment to institutions in CMAR countries, and the launch of the Panama Center marks a key milestone in this joint effort.
The Project to Strengthen Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in the CMAR seeks to improve management effectiveness of marine protected areas and counter IUU fishing in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama. It is funded by the Bezos Earth Fund and implemented by Fundación PACÍFICO in partnership with WildAid, JAC and OceanMind.
The Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) is a regional initiative launched in 2004 that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of marine ecosystems through transboundary cooperation among Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama.
