Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala
- Maya Biosphere, Guatemala Photo
- ©WCS
The Maya Biosphere Reserve is a rainforest stronghold for jaguars, pumas, scarlet macaws, and howler monkeys. During the Northern Hemisphere winter, millions of migratory birds also take shelter here. The reserve is situated at the heart of the Selva Maya, a forested area that spans neighboring portions of Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico. It serves as a critical watershed for the surrounding communities and as a major carbon sink for the entire planet. As the epicenter of the ancient Maya civilization from 350 B.C. to 900 A.D., the forest’s 200 archaeological sites draw tourists from around the world, bringing much needed revenue.
Fast Facts
- The Maya Biosphere Reserve includes five national parks: Tikal, Laguna del Tigre, Mirador-Río Azul, Yaxha, and Sierra del Lacandon. It also includes four “Biotopes”: El Zotz, Dos Lagunas, Rio Escondido, and Cerro Cahui.
- Covering 8,100 square miles, the reserve protects the largest block of broadleaf forest north of the Amazon Basin.
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Challenges
Guatemala is recovering from years of internal conflict, and the government has not strongly regulated the use of its natural resources. The reserve provides the country with 90 percent of its petroleum and timber. Roads built to facilitate timber and petroleum extraction allow access to the interior, and bring illegal human settlements, unsustainable land use policies, rampant hunting of wildlife, and annual burning of trees.
WCS Responds
WCS partners with local communities and governments to find innovative approaches to integrate development projects with the protection of natural and cultural resources, particularly sustainable forest management. in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, w
e are researching sources of human-wildlife conflicts in forest communities and on private
ranches and evaluating and guiding sustainable ranch management practices. We also provide veterinary assistance for pigs and
poultry in forest communities as well as for
cattle ranchers in the reserve's buffer zone. In addition, we are intervening to exclude livestock
from jaguar habitat and vice versa. WCS is studying
jaguars as part of a broader WCS effort to document and monitor the species’ populations across Mesoamerica. The
WCS-Guatemala jaguar team has conducted surveys in several
forestry concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Our conservationists have photographed individual jaguars and other at-risk species like white lipped peccary and
Baird’s tapir in the La Gloria industrial forest
concession, the Carmelita Community Forest Concession, and the El Burral site. These concessions include collection programs for certified timber as well as xate, palm fronds used in floral arrangements.We are also fighting to save the Maya scarlet macaw population from extirpation caused by the pet trade. Our efforts to conserve scarlet macaws include nest protection, artificial nest construction, veterinary monitoring, and education initiatives.
From the Newsroom
Threats loom within Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve, a vast natural sanctuary that protects more than 5 million acres. Jaguars, pumas, monkeys, and tapirs are some of the species fighting to survive in a place jeopardized by drug cartels, illegal logging, and commercial hunting.
After last year’s successful scarlet macaw nesting season in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, which produced a bumper crop of 29 new fledglings, WCS conservationists like Melvin Merida, a field veterinarian, are hoping to continue the upward trend for the critically endangered parrots.
WCS conservationists in Guatemala are using a swanky scent to lure jaguars and other endangered wildlife toward motion-sensitive
cameras that snap photos of the animals as they pass by. The photos help researchers
estimate population numbers for these shy species.