"Nature is a Crop": Ecotourism in Rural Panama

Achiote Panama is a small, rural community on the north coast of Panama. It is a place where the wet and dry seasons no longer come as they used to. Achiote is in a buffer zone of the San Lorenzo National Park; which abuts the... [ view full abstract ]

Achiote Panama is a small, rural community on the north coast of Panama. It is a place where the wet and dry seasons no longer come as they used to. Achiote is in a buffer zone of the San Lorenzo National Park; which abuts the newly expanded Panama Canal; on the other side of which the city of Colon and its Free Trade Zone, provide jobs but need space to house workers. This paper examines the efforts of community members to develop an ecotourism venture and how they view that effort in light of their history farming the region.  Initial findings indicate that ecotourism is viewed as another commodity like bananas or coffee before it, that is a response to global markets.