Summary of Key Points
– An electronic music festival called Ad Sidera Semper will take place in Bocas del Toro October 12-16. A portion of the festival is scheduled to happen on Bluff Beach, near a Municipal Nature Reserve. This is the second year of the event.
– Based on last year’s event, members of the community and one environmental NGO are concerned about the harm that the loud music, bright lights, fireworks and residual debris could have on the flora and fauna of the protected area. Concerned residents have asked the local government and the organizers to relocate the activity away from the protected area.
– Bluff is a sea turtle nesting beach from March to mid November for an average of 200 leatherbacks and 150 hawksbills, both endangered species. One sea turtle organization, ANABOCA, has expressed its written approval of the event, as long as the organizers “promise to minimize the negative effects or direct impacts.” They state that sea turtle nesting is rare in the section of the beach where the party will be and that any nests present at the time of the event will be moved. Sea Turtle Conservancy, a different conservation NGO, opposes the location of the event due to its proximity to the protected area.
– In a meeting with Bocas del Toro mayor Emilano Torres on September 12, 2023, he stated that he granted permission for “the activity itself, not the place.”
– Hosts of the event say that last year there was no harm done to the area. They believe the event to be a net benefit to the community; providing income during low season to native Bluff residents, indirectly boosting other island businesses from the festival traffic and increased international exposure to new tourism markets.
– The community criticism of the four day event has the hosts of the festival feeling unfairly singled out. They question why there isn’t such outrage for other activities that are year-round and potentially produce more long-lasting harm to the flora and fauna of the archipelago. The controversy has sparked a broader conversation about how Bocas del Toro can balance the interests of tourism commerce and nature conversation.
Bluff Beach. Photo courtesy of Alfredo Jurado Martinez of Bocas Is Love
Playa Bluff
When you think of Bluff Beach, you may think of a peaceful 5 km stretch of seemingly endless, uncrowded golden mounds of sand, or the roar of its gigantic waves, mastered only by the most skilled of surfers. Or maybe it’s the image of the majestic leatherback sea turtle that comes to mind, nesting her eggs in the Bluff sand; a reproductive ritual dating back eons, long before we humans conquered the planet.
The area is also home to monkeys, sloths, anteaters, migratory and resident birds, frogs, several species of flora and fauna, along with a community of native Bocatoreños; and in modern times you can add expat residents, a few large modern homes with all the amenities, year-round tourism, hotels, restaurants, a beach bar, and trails for exploring the jungle on ATVs.
Much like the teeming wildlife that surrounds us, we humans have our own mechanisms we must navigate in order to survive. We must work. And in the Bocas del Toro of 2023, the main mechanism for providing for ourselves is tourism and its related activities.
This article examines one four-day event and the balancing act of catering to party tourism while trying to preserve nature in a region that at the same time also promotes “eco-tourism.” The controversy has sparked a broader discussion about other more permanently installed year-round aspects of tourism and commerce that could potentially be compromising a place that is currently considered truly unique and attractive for the elements of its natural beauty.
Ad Sider Semper
Ad Sider Semper is definitely a new vibe for Bluff; an electronic festival, and the first of its kind for the area. The first edition was held on Bluff Beach October 20, 21 and 22, 2022. Click play on the video below to check out the highlights:
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Ad Sidera Semper means forever to the stars in Latin. “Music, wellness, art and community” is touted on its Instagram profile. “We seek to promote the connection with nature and cultivate a positive mindset and celebrate.” says a young woman in Spanish on their August 1, 2023 Instagram video promoting the festival.
To our knowledge, nobody protested the festival last year. It was only until July 2023 when images from the debut festival started circulating online in promotion of this year’s follow up edition that the community of Bocas del Toro started to question the balance of party tourism and nature conservation when it comes to this particular festival, in the vicinity of what is considered by many to be a protected area.
Bocas del Toro is definitely known in part for its lively party scene and the allure of its festivities draw is a significant contribution to the area’s main industry of tourism. However with Bluff Beach being a Municipal Nature Reserve and a turtle nesting beach from the months of March to mid November, the idea of an electronic party on the beach in during October caught the attention of Cecilia Brecciaroli.
Brecciaroli, a five years resident of the community, voiced her concerns on a July 22, 2023 Facebook post in the group Foro Comunitario / Bocas Community Forum:
On July 24, Brecciaroli submitted a letter to the Bocas del Toro Municipality emphasizing that she is not against the concept of the event and that she, other Bluff neighbors and concerned residents, ask local government and the organizers to consider adapting the activity to a venue with less potential for environmental harm:
“Based on what has happened last year and logical considerations regarding the location of Ad Sidera Semper, we request the event to be redirected, making it clear that the sole purpose of this request is to care for and protect the natural reserve, not to prohibit the event in a suitable location with the necessary permits, and above all, without harming the ecosystem.”
Is the activity “inside” of a protected area?
In 1997, Bluff Beach was declared a reserva natural municipal, or a Municipal Nature Reserve, “for the conservation of sea turtles.” In 2016 that this declaration was made official, when it was published in Panama’s “National Gazzette,” the country’s official journal of laws, decrees, resolutions and public notices. The 2016 publishing says the area includes 200 meters inland from high tide on Bluff Beach.
Part of the four day festival will take place on the property of Island Plantation, which is “a small Bali-Style Eco Resort on beautiful and unspoiled Bluff Beach,” according to the website description. The location of the party is at their Bom Bom Beach Bar, on the beachfront of the resort. In an interview with Island Plantation leadership, they explained that their property, along with other privately titled properties along Bluff Beach, exists outside of the Nature Reserve. This is because no one has been compensated by the government for ceding any land for the Reserve. Although it is near a protected area, the festival is not within this “reserva natural municipal,” according to the hosts of the electronic festival.
“It’s on the beach, out of turtle season. The mayor has approved it already. They (Ad Sidera Semper) have the permit. We are not doing damage. We haven’t seen any negative impact from the last party. Apart from the noise, there really isn’t any negative impact because everything takes place down on the sand, on the beach,” said owner-operators Chris Bybee and Herolf Andersen in the interview.
Two Sea Turtle Organizations, Two Letters
Nine days after the controversy on Facebook surrounding the activity, a letter was submitted to the Bocas del Toro municipality by Alfred Martin of ANABOCA (Asociación Natural Bocas Carey Bocas del Toro) who gave the organization’s visto bueno for the event.
In the letter dated July 31, 2023, Martin writes that the area of Bluff Beach in which the event will take place is rarely used for nesting by sea turtles due to beach erosion making the conditions undesirable for the nesting mothers. He goes on to state that at the time of his letter, there were no sea turtle nests in the area. Martin also mentions that as the date for the Ad Sidera Semper event approaches, if there are nests in the area of the festival, ANABOCA technicians would move the nests to ensure their protection.
With the letter, Martin, on behalf of ANABOCA gives the written endorsement of the Ad Sidera Semper activity on Bluff Beach on the basis that the group “promises to minimize the negative effects or direct impacts to the flora and fauna found within the Reserve.”
On August 6, 2023, another letter was submitted to Bocas del Toro mayor Emiliano Torres; this one from Maria Cristina Ordoñez, research director of Sea Turtle Conservancy. She states that on Bluff Beach turtle hatchlings can continue into mid-November. She expressed concerns about the negative impacts of the festival not only being harmful for sea turtles, but for other animals in the area of the reserve; monkeys, sloths, anteaters, birds, frogs, etc, that could be negatively affected by the loud volume of the music, bright lights at night, party debris and increased activity near the Municipal Nature Reserve.
Interview with the Main Hosts of the Event
Island Plantation came under fire during the July 22 Facebook discussion, since the Bluff portion of the party is located at their beach bar. However it is important to note that they are not the only Bocas del Toro business participating in the event.
Others in Bluff are renting out their accommodations for the event; including Oasis at Bluff Beach, Playa Bluff Lodge, The Hummingbird, Turtle Beach House, Abracadabra and Mar Onda Hotel. La Coralina Island House is also participating in Ad Sidera Semper and hosting a portion of it as well.
Though they are not alone in hosting this festival, the Bluff location at the Island Plantation property is at the center of the community’s concern. On August 5, 2023, I visited Island Plantation and sat down for an interview with owner-operators Christopher Bybee, Herolf Andersen and manager Choco Herrera.
When Island Plantation first met with the organizers of Ad Sidera Semper last year, the eco-lodge owners “very against the idea of the event,” according to Bybee. “They really had to sell me on it; that they were going to do this legally, but they turned me around and we pulled it off…There has been no impact.”
Island Plantation is a a real deal eco-lodge. It was built that way -and apart from the Ad Sidera Semper event- it is run in the manner that is exactly as you would expect for an eco-lodge. It is evident from the old growth jungle trees left on the property, trimmed carefully every year instead of being cleared away completely, the “monkey corridor” of trees left intact and vegetation thriving on the property.
Island Plantation, Bluff Beach, Bocas del Toro, Panama
Outside of this festival, they observe all the proper sea turtle nesting protocol. Their presence on the beach serves as “de facto security” against egg poaching and turtle harvesting. Though they have permits to open the Bom Bom Beach Bar until 3am, they close no later than 8:30 pm during turtle nesting season, per the recommendation of ANABOCA, with whom they work closely. If they were only interested in money, they would stay open later during turtle season, explained the owner-operators during our interview.
There are signs at Bom Bom encouraging their guests to pick up litter and Island Plantation leads monthly beach clean-ups, where they invite the community to join. They typically fill four or five 55 gallon garbage bags and they pay to have the bags removed. “Keeping the beach clean is our livelihood,” said Bybee. “Not only do we actually care, but we are heavily invested.” They were also one of the first businesses subscribe to the Bocas Recycle Center collection program.
At the time of this publication, they are publicizing a beach clean-up on Thursday, October 12, 2023, during the first day of the festival, 10am on Bluff Beach. “All volunteers will receive a free pass to the Adsidera Music Party Friday and Saturday nights!!!” the post includes.
Beach clean-up from May 2023. Bybee announces it every month in Bocas Facebook groups.
“We came here with the understanding that we have to work together with nature because what we’re selling here is a natural experience. We have to maintain the ecosystem here; all the animals, all the plants, the community that is out here already. We’ve come here with the belief that we can coexist. We can all work together to make this work. That’s what we’re trying to do. That’s the reason we haven’t built a four story concrete building here,” explained Andersen.
He continued: “We want the monkeys and sloths to be everywhere around here, like it’s been since we came here. That’s really how we want this area, because we depend on it for the business, for the livelihood of the whole community out here, including the local indigenous. We have an extremely good working relationship with them. They have nothing against us being here at all. Curiously it’s only the foreigners, with some interesting or strange takes, that try to stir up these things.”
Island Plantation defends the party on the basis that they are operating legally and providing a source of income to Bluff natives (22 in the low season, 30 in the high season). They don’t appreciate the criticism from those they feel they do not have to answer to.
In the interview, Herrera poses the question: if a business operates legally, pays taxes, provides local jobs and is given permits by the authorities in charge to rent their location for weddings, parties and whatever they please, then why should they have to answer to and give explanations to random people who have no legal authority? Some of whom may even be working illegally and evading taxes with their business themselves, he suggested.
Ad Sidera Semper 2022 on Bluff Beach
Island Plantation also defends the party on the basis that it is a destination event, increasing awareness of Bocas del Toro’s tourism offer internationally and stimulating the island’s economy, extending to other businesses not directly related to the party, during the slowest time of the year for tourism.
Island Plantation leadership conveyed the feeling of being singled out; the target of selective outrage from an internet mob of “keyboard warriors,” some of whom have never even set foot on their property and would never dare to protest face-to-face, they believe.
In our conversation they made a point to mention other activities that they consider more harmful to the environment and no one seems to be protesting nearly as much as Ad Sider Semper. For example, luxury hotels built on top of mangroves, weekly parties that also contaminate with sound, light and trash in other areas of the archipelago, over the water facilities with no septic that host tourism activity on a daily basis, the new road project and out of control building, other activities that contribute to the continued dissemination of local coral reef, plans for a mega hotel just down the road, near the reserve, and film productions that deforest and contaminate for more than four days, also in the vicinity of the Bluff Municipal Nature Reserve.
“Hypocrisy” is the term they used. The leadership of Island Plantation pointed to neighbors who publicly complained about the upcoming festival, but also rented rooms out to its participants last year. They have observed other neighbors complaining who clear cut jungle around their homes so nothing would have a chance to fall on their property, disrupting the monkey corridor, while Bybee and Andersen claim they have maintained theirs. “Sure if you replant, they will grow back, but in 20 or 30 years…And the monkeys will have sort of lost interest at that point.”
Island Plantation was part of a group of residents that worked to get the town’s electric grid extended out to Bluff. At the time, the group was labeled “monkey killers” for wanting to install power lines. Now the electricity is generated from hydroelectric, the lines protected from wildlife, and they pointed out that they were being criticized about the contamination and noise pollution of the party from neighbors who have elected to regularly run fossil fuel generators over integrating in the city electric hook up.
“It’s so interesting because you have people that live in big hardwood constructed houses, they run back and forth with their big engines every day, SUVs, boats, noise contamination, ocean pollution, the exhaust from fossil fuel burn, with the construction of all the docks that they need, all these things. When you mention it to them, they become all indignant. We’re the devils and whatever they do is fine” said Andersen.
Herrera added, “If we’re talking about pollution, everyone’s presence here pollutes. Let’s all leave then, those of us who are not from here, and let the natives here take care of nature and this ends the problem, but you want to make money, the other guy wants to make money, but I can’t? No, it doesn’t work that way.”
Bluff Beach photo by Alfredo Jurado Martinez of Bocas Is Love
Local Nonprofits Were Invited to Participate in this Year’s Festival
Caribbean Coral Restoration has been invited to set up a booth so that attendees can donate toward their wonderful work to rebuild the rapidly declining coral reefs in the area; a local conservation effort of the utmost importance. Festival organizers were interested in having Caribbean Coral Restoration during the 2022 festival, but nothing ever came to fruition. This year, Caribbean Coral Restoration will be attending. The Bocas Breeze urges our readers to continue to support the very important work of Caribbean Coral Restoration.
Papa Gato Animal Welfare is another local nonprofit doing amazing work to help the Bocas del Toro animal kingdom. They specialize in organizing care for homeless animals and pets from low income families, but also use their resources sometimes to assist wounded or disoriented jungle wildlife. Papa Gato was also invited by the organizers of Ad Sidera Semper, but declined to participate. Papa Gato will not be attending. We urge our readers to support Papa Gato too!
And while we are on the subject of impactful local NGOs that work to preserve nature: WE URGE YOU TO SUPPORT THE WORK OF SEA TURTLE CONSERVANCY TOO!
There was mention that the Ad Sider Semper event will also benefit the renovation of local Bluff elementary school. We were unable to confirm this detail with the organizers.
Coincidentally, this is a project Cecilia Brecciaroli undertook last year, raising $7,038 for building materials for the new school with her “Una Escuelita Para Bluff” campaign; this with the support of Faces of Bocas and local businesses hosting fundraisers.
We hope Ad Sidera Semper can collaborate on this project, as the kids in Bluff sure do deserve a better place to have their classes. And again, readers: support the school in Bluff!
Cecilia Brecciaroli and the children of the Bluff school, June 2022
Current State of the Beach and Plans for Avoiding and Minimizing Impact
While crafting this article we have attempted to follow up with the organizers, the hosts, and the sea turtle monitoring organizations about the status of the area and the plans for minimizing impact.
On September 30, we spoke with Cristina Ordoñez of Sea Turtle Conservancy. She revealed there are currently 50 hawksbill eggs incubating on Bluff Beach. These eggs should hatch some time during October. Thankfully none are close to the festival area. According to fellow Sea Turtle Conservancy monitors, there were some recent nests that were closer to Bom Bom Beach Bar, near the party location. However they have already since been relocated for protection. She also mentioned that the biggest reason for decline in turtle hatching is egg poaching in the area.
We were unable to reach Alfred Martin or anyone from ANABOCA for comment.
On October 7, 2023, Oasis at Bluff Beach posted photos and videos of turtles hatching on Instagram, with the caption indicating they hatched the same day of the post, in front of Oasis at Bluff Beach; just down the beach from where the festival will take place in five days time.
We reached out on multiple occasions to the Ad Sidera Semper organizers with the question of how the impact of the festivities on Bluff Beach would be minimized this year. We did not receive an answer.
We also wanted to make the suggestion that they should advise the attendees of the festival to not drive any vehicles on Bluff Beach. This happened last year with an ATV along the Bluff turtle nesting beach.
In marketing materials for the event, they make an astute observation that “Bocas del Toro is a sustainable paradise that requires awareness of the environment.” We hope that this year’s festival activity will respect this reality.
“A Little Bit of Ad Sidera Semper”
When the July 22 discussion on Facebook erupted there were comments suggesting the beach was left covered in debris the mornings after, which were refuted by organizers and supporters of the festival. In our interview with the hosts of the event, they recalled how they were sifting through the sand every morning, removing any remnants from the evening festivities.
There were also reports of tire tracks on a long stretch of the 5 km turtle nesting beach which can be verified here with this Instagram video from @josemora91, with the caption reading “un poco de @adsiderasemper,” or little bit of Ad Sidera Semper.
Jose Mora’s Instagram profile reads “be a nice human” and includes a link to an advertising agency. Was this video part of a campaign for Ad Sidera Semper?
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Note: The ATV pictured is from a company with a zero tolerance of this behavior. Before handing the keys over, they brief each ATV renter about not driving on the beach, with a specific warning about how it can disturb turtle nests. Clients sign waivers stating if they are caught driving their vehicle on the beach, they can be responsible for paying a fine. The quad rental company has been known to donate fines collected directly to the local sea turtle monitoring organizations. Whether or not Jose Mora of Ad Sidera Semper paid a fine last year’s ATV beach riding is unknown.
September 10 Meeting with the Municipality of Bocas del Toro
“I never gave permission for the place. I gave permission for the activity itself.” – Emilano Torres, mayor of Bocas del Toro
Ceci Brecciaroli first scheduled a meeting with Bocas del Toro mayor Emiliano Torres on July 27, 2023, though the meeting was cancelled minutes before by the mayor’s secretary. She requested the meeting when she delivered her July 24 letter to the municipality, following the July 22 discussion on Facebook.
Brecciaroli then met with the mayor on August 5, 2023, alongside Sea Turtle Conservancy director of research Maria Cristina Ordoñez. By this time, following ANABOCA’s July 31 letter, the permits for the party had already been issued. Mayor Torres has stated that he gave the permission for the activity on the basis of the July 31 ANABOCA letter.
On September 10, Brecciaroli, Ordoñez and concerned neighbors attended another meeting with the mayor, one more time with the intention of raising concerns for the impact to the flora and fauna by the event and requesting that the Bluff portion of the party be relocated to another venue. Brecciaroli, Ordoñez and the group of concerned neighbors believe that the permits of the activity were granted by the mayor based on false information in the letter submitted by Alfred Martin on behalf of ANABOCA.
“The letter asks Ad Sidera Semper to ‘promise to minimize negative effects.’ Within a reserve there is no possibility of minimizing negative impacts, there is no way to control light pollution or noise pollution, much less residual pollution,” said Cecilia Brecciaroli. Ordoñez added “Not only does it abruptly impact the endangered turtles, but also the other species that inhabit the area.”
Cristina Ordoñez of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, speaking at a 2021 community meeting about the Isla Colon road project, advocating on behalf of the Bluff sea turtles.
“I’m not going to change my decision, I already made it. I’m not going to take away permission that I already gave them. They already paid their taxes. I don’t want to be irresponsible in that way either,” remarked mayor Torres during the meeting. He recognized that with the permit being granted months ago, the organizers have already made their plans and invested in the event’s logistics. He says the municipality cannot revoke the permit and cannot refund what was paid by the organizers.
According to Brecciaroli, she and the other concerned neighbors are willing to refund the organizers for whatever they paid for the permit, if they agree to relocate the party away from the Municipal Nature Reserve.
In the September 10 meeting, mayor Emiliano Torres also stated in relation to the Bluff location “I never gave permission for the place. I gave permission for the activity itself.”
It is unclear how a permit for an activity could be granted without specifying the location of the event.
The group agreed to meet again and inspect the area of Bluff in which the permitted activity was scheduled to take place.
Bluff Beach Site Inspection
On September 26, 2023, the Bocas del Toro municipality provided transportation for a field trip to where the Bluff portion of Ad Sidera Semper would take place. In attendance were Cecilia Brecciaroli a few residents against the Bluff location of the festival, Maria Cristina Ordoñez (Sea Turtle Conservancy), a secretary from the Bocas del Toro municipality, Bocas Breeze reporter Alfredo Jurado Martinez and Island Plantation manager Choco Herrera.
According to the attendees, there was no mention of how sound and light would be minimized so as to not impact the wildlife in the nearby Bluff Beach jungle.
“The manager of Island Plantation was explaining to all of us that the stage was going to be where it was last year, basically at the end of the restaurant Bom Bom, with the VIP section between the restaurant and the road. With the stage there, facing the ocean, all the people will be at the public and protected beach,” wrote Jane Jungle on Facebook.
She continued, “It is hard to understand how permission is given to go ahead with a music festival taking place in such a unique, fragile and peaceful nature area. I could not find any other examples where music festivals were allowed to be conducted INSIDE nature reserves. Any event that attracts tourism, creates jobs and promotes Bocas del Toro is a great opportunity but please not INSIDE the ‘protected area.'”
Note: It has not been made clear exactly where the Municipal Nature Reserve starts and stops, so the party being “inside” the reserve may not be an accurate statement. What is certain is what was written into Panamanian law in 2016: “Bluff Beach 200 meters inland from high tide for sea turtle conservation.”
Noise Impact
One impact of this event that both sides agree on is the noise. What is unknown is exactly to what extent the noise will have on animal life in the area. In the spirit of an electronic music festival, last year’s edition was loud, according to people in the area:
“We live 500m past La Coralina, about 3 km from the area of the party. Last year, we could hear the music and see the lights from our home,” remembered Sasá Ferri.
An anonymous Bluff neighbor wrote to us, who lives very close to the festival site, recalling that the music was quite loud and went from midnight to 5am. “We have been experiencing the fireworks in Bluff done by the Hollywood people filming, so we are getting used to this madness,” the Bluff neighbor added, referring to the recent television filming in Finca Flores, also very close to the Municipal Nature Reserve.
Online academic journal The Conversation published a piece in 2022 called “Noise pollution is hurting animals – and we don’t even know how much.” In the article it states that “wild animals suffer chronic stress, fertility problems and change their migration routes in response to noise…One noisy event such as a local music festival or extreme weather can trigger long-term fear in animals. The link between noise and fear has been well studied in dogs using recordings of thunderstorms.” The article cites a 2019 study “The effects of anthropogenic noise on animals.”
Party Debris
Bluff neighbor Dayana Velarde remembers what it was like when the 2022 Ad Sider Semper wrapped up. She had this to say:
“The day after the festival, I visited the Bluff Nature Reserve to go to the beach with my dogs and saw a lot of trash and plastic bracelets everywhere. Apparently they had already picked up everything in terms of facilities and stages but they left all the garbage (plastic cups, cigarette butts and food containers) everywhere, both on the beach and on the road.”
This testimony was from the day after the event, October 23, 2022. The Bocas Breeze recognizes that it must be a challenge to return the beach to a pristine state right away. Based on the host’s documented dedication to beach cleanliness, it is reasonable to assume the area did not stay that way for long. What is certain is that it left an impression on one neighbor.
Photo courtesy of Sea Turtle Conservancy.
Opposing Viewpoints Sanctioned and Silenced
When the discussion about the party first broke out on a Facebook community forum in July, Cecilia Brecciaroli and others who opposed the Bluff Beach location took to social media to express their discontent directly to the Instagram account @adsiderasemper. The negative comments were quickly deleted and Brecciaroli’s accounts were blocked by the organizers and the hosts of the festival. The Bocas Breeze Newspaper Instagram account @thebocasbreeze was blocked by the festival organizers of the evening of October 8, 2023.
On September 28, 2023, Brecciaroli wrote to The Bocas Breeze “Today I was summoned by the manager of Island Plantation to appear before the Justice of Peace. I was asked to sign a mediation stating that I would not appear on Bluff Beach the days of the festival. He also threatened to issue me a restraining order.”
Brecciaroli did not sign the mediation. According to her, there was no legal basis for the mediation, nor a restraining order. She feels free to visit Bluff Beach, a public area, and has no interest in being anywhere near the festival. She refused to sign on principle.
Current Situation, as of October 9, 2023
At the time of this publication, the festival is scheduled to take place as planned. After email and WhatsApp attempts to contact the festival organizers to learn how they might be minimizing the environmental impact and avoiding harm on Bluff Beach. We did not receive any response.
They did however publish a very detailed video on Instagram on September 29 in regards to the dress code and “moodboards” for three different thematic parties so we know there is a great deal of strategizing going on for the event’s interaction with Bocas del Toro’s scenery.
Their social media accounts have been running paid ad campaigns through Meta, with visuals featuring overhead shots of Cayo Zapatilla.
Tourism and Conservation: a Challenging Balance
Zooming out from this event, this topic has sparked an important broader conversation in the community: how does Bocas del Toro balance its demand for party tourism and eco-tourism, while maximizing opportunities, but at the same time preserving the natural beauty of the island?
Costa Rica seems to have had success with their formula and you could say Panama has the incentive -and even intention- to follow suit. After all, Panama Por Naturaleza, or “Panama For Nature,” is a tourism slogan used by the Panama Tourism Authority.
It is true that Ad Sidera Semper is not from the only activity that deserves a lengthy community newspaper article and thorough public examination. We don’t intend to single it out. It is a topic that we received many messages about, so we know it is one important to our readers. Rest assured it is not the last article where we will attempt to make sense of the balance of our community’s tourism prosperity and nature conservation. However we can only cover one subject at a time, so stay tuned…
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