Ecotopia Teak: Promoting responsible teak production in Panama

In order to provide a practical learning opportunity following the current models implemented in Panama in mechanization and automation from the commercial perspective of the forestry sector, the Ministry of Environment and teachers from the Universidad Tecnológica organized a guided tour of the facilities of the company Ecotopia Teak.

Ecotopia Teak, located in Genené, Cañita de Chepo, province of Panama, is the first certified processing plant for wood from forestry plantations and has a production capacity of 1,300 containers of 40-foot teak per year.

For this reason, in addition to being dedicated to forest harvesting, they are committed to the education and training of future professionals, which is why they received a visit from a group of fourth and sixth year forestry engineering students from the Universidad Tecnológica de Panamá and five forestry engineering graduates from the Universidad Nacional de Ciencias Forestales (UNACIFOR) of Honduras, at their teak processing plant.

As a pilot industrial development plan and the only teak plant in the region, Ecotopia Teak decided to share this great knowledge and experience with future forestry engineers, in order to have a generational relay that is oriented towards the future based on the changing experiences of international markets, thus moving forward with the commitment to promote sustainable development and excellence in the forestry industry.

The students, accompanied by their professors, gained a great deal of knowledge about the teak marketing system and the different qualities of production.

This visit gave the students a comprehensive understanding of the processes involved in the mechanization and automation of a teak processing plant. It also gave them a different perspective on the importance of FSC certification and responsible teak production in Panama for the development of rural economies in Chepo and Darien.