APROVACA (Spanish ''Asociación de Productores de Orquídeas de El Valle y Cabuya'') is a non-profit organization established to conserve and protect native
orchids
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
in
El Valle de Antón
El Valle de Antón, generally called El Valle, or Anton's Valley in English, is a town of 7,600 in the Coclé province of Panama.
Geography
The town is located in the flat wide caldera of the 6 km wide El Valle volcano that is inactive; th ...
, Panama.
The organization was founded on May 15, 2001 with the goal of protecting endangered
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
Panamanian species of orchids. Illegal orchid
poaching
Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights.
Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...
by locals have greatly diminished the number of orchids in El Valle and threatens to eradicate several species of orchids only found in El Valle.
The headquarters of APROVACA is in El Valle de Antón. Aside from administration the center has an orchid garden and a
nursery for local orchids and horticultural varieties.
As an ongoing project APROVACA is collaborating with the Institute of Agricultural Investigation of Panama (Instituto de Investigación Agropecuaria de Panamá, IDIAP) to reintroduce endemic local orchids into their natural habitats.
Since March 2010 APROVACA has been a member of the
Orchid Conservation Coalition.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official website
Orchid organizations
Non-profit organizations based in Panama
Nature conservation in Panama
Organizations established in 2001
2001 establishments in Panama