The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Sierra Del Lacandon National Park. © Nicole Balloffet

Two major pieces of privately owned land in the Sierra Del Lacandon National Park were purchased by the Conservancy and a local partner. These pristine land holdings are 77,000 acres large and were the largest privately owned areas in the park.

The Lacandon National Park in the Maya Forest is home to several endangered species such as puma, jaguar, tapir, anteater, howler monkey, ocelot, scarlet macaw and the Moreletti crocodile — which is unique to this region of Central America.

The Nature Conservancy and local partner Defensores de la Naturaleza have been working with communities in and around Sierra del Lacandón to improve their economic well-being and at the same time preserve their slice of the Maya Forest.

Private natural reserves within Sierra Del Lacandon Park

The two properties, called “Naranjitos I and II,” are some of the most biologically diverse tracts of rainforest in Guatemala.

They also contain several Mayan ruins and are home to cenotes — water-filled limestone sink holes that provide unique habitat for species found nowhere else in the world. The Lacandon Park encompasses large strands of broad leaf subtropical rainforest, unique geological formations, freshwater lakes, mountain ranges and low-lying savanna plains.