Sarigua National Park

Sarigua National Park is a protected area on Panama’s Azuero Peninsula in Herrera Province characterized by arid, sparsely vegetated terrain and exposed soils. The park conserves dryland habitats that contrast with Panamas more typical humid tropical ecosystems.

Visitors encounter open, eroded plains and patches of dry forest and scrub rather than the dense rainforest typical elsewhere in the country. The landscape and soils provide opportunities for researchers and visitors to observe dryland processes and vegetation adapted to low rainfall.

The park was established to protect representative dryland ecosystems and to conserve local biodiversity and landscapes threatened by erosion and human land use. Management focuses on conservation, limited public access and scientific study.

Sarigua lies on the Azuero Peninsula in Herrera Province, central-southern Panama, occupying inland coastal plain terrain rather than montane or rainforest zones.

• Arid landscape: The park protects an unusually arid landscape for Panama and is frequently cited as an example of dry-forest and desertification issues on the Azuero Peninsula.

What to See #

• Dry, desert-like plains: Arid plains and exposed soils often described as desert-like, with sparse vegetation and areas of salt-affected ground representative of degraded dryland ecosystems.
• Dry forest fragments: Fragments of tropical dry forest and scrub that persist in pockets and provide habitat for drought-adapted plants and animals.