The Ecotourism Society

Ardan International Group S.A.

Ardan International Group, S.A., is a Panamanian Company with offices in Panama City and field operational facilities in several locations around Panama. Ardan, with strategic partners and consultants, only considers responsible projects with a commitment to the environment and social sustainability. Ardan does this with a multidisciplinary team of experts that offers a comprehensive approach to sustainable development and environmentally conscious projects, which as of August 2007, include:

* Harvesting & Extracting Submerged Tropical Hardwoods from Lake Gatun in the Panama Canal Region.

* Harvesting & Extracting Submerged Tropical Hardwoods from Lake Bayano in Joint Venture with the Kuna Madungandi   Indians.

* Working Jointly with the Kuna Yala Indians in the San Blas Islands to Develop Sustainable Tourism Opportunities.

* Developing Methods for the Clean-Up of Unexploded Ordinance (UXO) at Former Military Firing Ranges.
 
The combination of cross-cultural experience and strategic alliances in the host regions enable us to bring a wide range of innovative solutions and resources into our projects.

Exotic Hardwoods Harvest

Ardan International Group, S.A. supplies increasingly rare “rediscovered” tropical hardwoods to the global market. These “rediscovered” tropical hardwoods are extracted from submerged tropical hardwood forests that were flooded following the construction of the Panama Canal and the creation of Lake Gatun.

In 1914, after ten years and a cost of $352 million dollars, the United States’ effort to build the Panama Canal was complete. At that time Lake Gatun was created when engineers working on the Panama Canal constructed a dam to block the Chagres River’s outflow. The dam altered the river flow causing water to rise in the Chagres River valley. The subsequent flooding submerged vast expanses of tropical rainforest and created the largest lake in Panama, Lake Gatun. As a result, Lake Gatun is 423 square kilometers in area, the majority of which is submerged tropical jungle.

The Canal and the associated area (Canal Zone) remained under the control of the United States government from 1914 until Octover 1st, 1979, which was the effective date of the Panama Canal Treaty. On that date the Panama Canal Commission became the U.S. Government agency responsible for managing, operating, maintaining and improving the Canal through December 31, 1999, at which time the Canal was transferred to the Panamanian government.
Project & Phases

Phase I: Resource Investigation & Pilot Harvesting Program

 
The pilot project, undertaken during 2006 and early 2007, determined what operational methods for a successful project and provided new ideas for extracting wood safely with due concern for habitat as well as long term development. The preliminary investigations leading up to this Plan indicated that there are significant volumes of timber and that the material is in excellent condition. What is being determined during the present ongoing harvesting is the most probable exact volume and the species mix therein. A preliminary sensitivity analysis has been developed that indicates the Gatun concessions of approximately 12,500 hectares may hold from 125 to 250 million useable board feet of material.

Phase II: Implementation of Full Scale Harvesting & Processing

The full scale harvesting and processing plans are being implemented as a result of, and in correlation to the findings from Phase I. The final commitment to the plan has been a function of understanding in more detail the species mix and percentage of total harvest, the condition of the extracted wood, how it reacts upon removal from the lake, and to a certain degree, the results of continued market development.

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