El Agallito Beach and El Retén Beaches

El Agallito and El Retén Beaches is a marine-coastal wetland on Panama’s Pacific coast. It covers 4017.9 acres (1.626 hectares) and is situated between the mouths of the Parita and La Villa rivers. The site is under tidal influence with an extent of approximately 5 m, leaving about 1.5 km of sandy-muddy shoreline exposed during low tide. Most of the coastline is covered in mangroves.

The designated area is located within the Municipality of Chitré. It is not a protected site at the national level; however, in April 2008, the Municipal Council of the district of Chitré, which is the responsible entity over the area, declared it a “Territorial, Urban and Environmental Protection Zone in the coastal sector of Chitré.” This resolution is pending publication in the Official Registry, which is necessary for the area to be included in the Ministry of Environment’s National System of Protected Areas. Internationally, the site is one of 53 Important Bird Areas in Panama under the name ‘Parita Bay’ (IBA PA025), highlighting the site as the second most important site for migratory shorebirds in Panama after the Parte Alta de la Bahía de Panamá (which is a WHSRN site of Hemispheric importance). The area is also considered a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA).

El Agallitoand El Retén beaches is important for migratory shorebirds moving to South America and those that winter in Panama, finding shelter, food, and resting areas there on the mudflats and in the mangroves. The importance of this site was already demonstrated in the late 1980s and early 1990s through aerial surveys on both coasts of the country, obtaining information on sites with high concentrations of shorebirds, published in the Atlas of Nearctic Shorebirds and other waterfowl on the coast of Panama (Morrison et al. 1998). Around the same time, Delgado and Butler report that during counts conducted from September 1989 to March 1990 and October 1990 to February 1991, 111,906 shorebirds comprising 14 species were observed within Parita Bay. Also recorded during that period were 6,599 individuals of the Wilson’s Plover (Anarhynchus wilsonia).

The site is proposed as a WHSRN Site of International Importance due to the presence of more than 10% of the global population of Wilson’s Plover. The maximum number of individuals reached on a single day was 4,293 in February 2019. According to the Wilson’s Plover Conservation Plan (Zdravkovic 2013), the global population estimate of the species ranges between 26,550 and 31,650 individuals. For calculating the 1% threshold, the average of 29,100 individuals was considered. Therefore, the total of 4,293 individuals represents more than 10% of the global population.

Given that the most significant records of the Wilson’s Plover obtained at the site have been during the southbound migration (between September to November) and during the wintering period (between December to February), it is assumed that the individuals observed represent both the migratory population of the subspecies A. w. wilsonia and the local A.w. beldingi population, for this reason, the global population of the species was used to calculate the percentage and not the biogeographic population because it is difficult to separate the two in the field.

Primary threats to the WHSRN site include pollution, disturbance caused by recreational and tourism activities, habitat loss, fishing activities, and climate change. Climate change is not considered an immediate threat but will gradually affect vulnerable populations and ecosystems. Sea level rise will likely convert intertidal habitats to subtidal, resulting in a loss in the availability of foraging areas for shorebirds during migration and wintering.

Pollution is a conservation challenge because the human population is increasing, which increases air, soil, and water pollutants. In addition, various economic activities are developed within the area, which implies a greater use of pesticides and contamination from heavy metals, which are ultimately transported to the coastal marine wetlands.

An underestimated threat is disturbance by recreational and tourism activities in shorebird habitats. This dramatically impacts shorebirds’ life cycles since vital activities such as feeding, breeding, nesting, and resting are interrupted in response to any threat.

Habitat loss is linked to the fragmentation or partial or total degradation of the environment where communities live, which results in the reduction of the ecological integrity of these ecosystems and the detriment of the environmental services they provide locally and regionally, which affect human security, food, real estate and livelihoods, and in turn impacts and degrades the habitat used by shorebirds.

Fishing activities provide a positive and vital contribution to the local and national economy. However, overexploitation through industrial fishing with trawl nets and artisanal fishing carried out for commercial purposes using small wooden or fiberglass boats equipped with nets and trammel nets as fishing gear has adverse effects on the environment at different scales, affecting the habitat and biomass in the area used by shorebirds.

In February 2023, the Parita Bay Wetlands Conservation Plan was launched, which is an effort based on a participatory process that included leaders of the communities surrounding these wetlands, local and international NGOs, governmental and private institutions, and other relevant stakeholders. The plan presents seven strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of the natural resources of Parita Bay’s wetlands, which also includes the proposed El Agallito & El Retén beach. Strategies are focused on promoting scientific research, sustainable aquaculture, agricultural, livestock and fishing practices, and creating multisectoral alliances.