The Darién Gap

Lying on the stretch of land between Central and South America is the Darién Gap, the largest and wildest remaining stretch of rainforest north of the Amazon. "For millions of years, the isthmus has filtered the exchange of plants and animals between the Americas, and, as sea levels rose and fell, its mountains isolated populations, resulting in an extraordinary number of unique species. A fifth of its plants occur nowhere else. In 1981, after decades of intense study, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature declared that “thousands of species remain to be discovered."" Though a region of the Gap is protected under the Darién National Park, forest loss and degradation, land development, and climate change are among the most pressing threats for the area's vulnerable wildlife.