The Los Santos province was one of the last places to be cleared due to the hilly landscape. The land was cleared in the early 1900s for cattle ranching. Cattle ranching is the dominant way that the land in this area is being used and why it has also been cleared. The area has anywhere from 4000mm to 1200 mm or less of rainfall annually. This area also experiences about seven months of a rainy season and about five months of a dry season.
This area has recently begun to have exponential growth of tourism due to a real estate boom. One of the reasons for the real estate boom is that much of the nutrient rich soils to have been severely eroded. This area is ideal for tourism due to it being on the pacific coast and is a popular destination for surfers and other sea recreational activities. The majority of the land is being purchased to be developed for resorts of other buildings to attract tourism.
Sources:
- Griscom, H.P. 2011. The Structure and Composition of a Tropical Dry Forest Landscape After Land Clearance. Sustainable Forestry 30: 756-774.
- http://www.virtualpanama.com/los-santos-province.asp
- Figure 1: Google Earth