Maya Biosphere Reserve

Tikal © Susan G. Ellis

The Guatemala section of the Maya Forest forms the six million acre Maya Biosphere Reserve and is the largest protected area within the Maya Forest. In fact, it contains over ten percent of Guatemala's total land area. The Guatemalan government and UNESCO established the Maya Biosphere Reserve in 1990 to safeguard the region’s outstanding biological and cultural diversity.  Within the internationally recognized World Biosphere Reserve, are eight core protected areas, including the famous Tikal National Park which was declared a Natural and Cultural World Heritage site in 1979. 

The Maya Biosphere Reserve is located in the remote Petén department in northern Guatemala, and makes up forty percent of the province. Tikal National Park, encompassing more than 140,000 acres, is located in the south-central part of the Reserve.  Located in the far western reaches of the Reserve, Sierra del Lacandon National Park is a 500,000 acre protected area, which harbors the archeological ruins of Piedras Negras.  A recently conducted ecoregional assessment concluded that Lacandon is among the most intact sections of the Maya Forest.

Central American Spider Monkey © Ana Garcia

What the Conservancy Is Doing
Protecting Sierra del Lacandón National Park
Sierra del Lacandón National Park was established in 1990 and is the second largest park in Guatemala’s national park system. Encompassing wetlands, grasslands, riparian forests, and both high and low tropical rain forests, the park spans over 500,000 acres and bridges Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve to the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in Chiapas, Mexico. The park is a critical habitat for several endangered species like the jaguar and endemic species such as the Morelet’s Crocodile, Guatemalan howler monkey, and ocellated turkey as well as many other species of birds, animals and plants. 

Debt for nature swaps
The Conservancy and its partners helped the government of Guatemala carry out the largest debt-for-nature swap to date under the 1998 Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA), securing $24.4 million for conservation of the country’s unique biodiversity. Under this deal, the Conservancy and partner Conservation International each contributed $1 million, and the U.S. Government forgave $15 million in Guatemalan debt. These funds and the interest they generate will be sufficient to cancel more than $20 million in debt to the U.S. Guatemala, in turn will redirect its regular debt payments to a Conservation Trust Fund. Managed by an oversight committee made up of the Conservancy and other participants in the deal, the trust fund will provide grants to local NGOs working in priority conservation areas such as the Maya Forest. The fund will also establish an endowment to ensure financial support for conserving Guatemalan forests into the future.

Conservation Highlights in the Maya Biosphere Reserve

• In the 500,000-acre Sierra del Lacandon National Park, the Conservancy and local partner Defensores de la Naturaleza have been working hand-in-hand to conserve one of the forest’s most pristine areas. In a public-private co-administration agreement that was the first of its kind in Latin America, Conservancy partner Defensores de la Naturaleza and the Guatemalan government agreed to share administration costs and management responsibilities for Sierra del Lacandón National Park. With Conservancy assistance, they also created the area's first five-year master plan.
  
• When the park was created in 1990 two parcels of land totaling 77,000 acres Naranjitos I and II were privately owned. In <link> 2006 the Conservancy and partner Defensores de la Naturaleza purchased these two properties allowing for the entire park to be effectively protected. The title for this property is held by Defensores de la Naturaleza who will manage the property and oversee stewardship activities and a conservation easement ensures that this forest will be safeguarded into perpetuity.
  

• Earlier, the Conservancy helped Defensores de la Naturaleza purchase 22,500 acres of the Centro Campesino property at Sierra del Lacandón National Park. After years of negotiation, the partners acquired the final 3,300 acres of the property, thus protecting some of the most pristine forest in the park and an important Maya ruin.