Alittle history on the bayano including the reasoning behind the awarding of concessions there.......Their efforts, however, are threatened as more and more young Kuna men seek wage labor employment - for logging firms locally, in Panama City, and in the banana plantations of Bocas del Toro Province. The growing dependency on the cash economy is due in part to the fact that the Kuna are no longer able to earn income through horticulture because of the poor quality of the remaining soil.

As a result of this growing dependence on cash, the Kuna have granted concessions to logging firms to operate within the reserve. To date, they have managed to control carefully the operations, dictating the quantity extracted and the sites for operation, and setting relatively high prices for the lumber. If they find themselves unable to make a living from horticulture, however, the pressure to expand lumbering within the reserve will mount.

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