Maya Forest

This lowland tropical forest, containing numerous archeological sites of the ancient Maya civilization, forms the second-largest contiguous tract of tropical forest in the Americas—only the Amazon is larger.

Location

The Maya Forest forms the heart of the Yucatán Peninsula, covering more than six million acres from the Caribbean coast of Mexico through Belize and into the Petén region of Guatemala.

A bird's-eye view yields a 360-degree vista of unbroken forest canopy -
a seemingly endless sea of green.
© Edward Porter/The Nature Conservancy

Animals

The Maya Forest is home to more than 95 mammal species, 45 reptile species, 18 amphibian species and 112 fish species. Some of the most endangered include:

Large cats, such as the puma, roam free in the Maya Forest.
© David Andrews

Giant anteater
Scarlet macaw
Howler monkey
Tapir

In addition, five large cat species inhabit the Maya Forest:

Jaguar
Puma
Ocelot
Jaguarundi
Tigrillo

Birds

The Maya Forest provides refuge to more than 400 species of birds, both endemic and migratory, and during the peak of winter migration, as many as five billion birds pass through the area. Some resident species of particular interest include:

Crested guan
Jabiru stork
Great curassow
Black-billed cuckoo
King vulture

Plants

More than 375 plant species found in the Maya Forest are found nowhere else on Earth.

In addition, many species have traditionally been extracted for their economic value, such as allspice, chicle (traditional base for chewing gum), and xate palm (used in many floral arrangements).

Why the Conservancy Works Here

The ecological importance of the region is truly astonishing. Mature tropical forests, seasonally inundated lowland forests and wetlands provide refuge for rare and endangered species. And beyond the biological richness of the Maya Forest, this region is home to a large concentration of ruins of the Maya civilization.

Once a powerful Maya center, today only temple ruins rise above the forest canopy (Tikal, Guatemala).
© Nicole Balloffet/The Nature Conservancy

The greatest challenge to conservation in the Maya Forest is forest conversion and habitat loss due to unsustainable farming practices. New settlers clear land for agriculture and many bring with them agricultural practices ill suited to the conditions and soil types of the lowland tropical forest. After two or three years, crop yields drop, forcing farmers to clear more land. As a result, habitat conversion and fragmentation are decimating these forests at an alarming rate.

In addition, large-scale regional development programs such as road construction and dam building, pose the largest long-term challenges to conservation of the Maya Forest region.

What the Conservancy is Doing

In partnership with local conservation organizations, local landowners, local, state and government officials and the academic and scientific communities, The Nature Conservancy is working on a tri-national level at the following sites to protect the Maya Forest and the remarkable diversity of life it supports:

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve: The Conservancy and partners recently protected 370,000 acres in a historic public-private collaboration to purchase critically threatened lands in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. Building on this success, the Conservancy and partners are seeking to purchase and permanently protect an additional 230,000 acres in the neighboring Balam Ku State Reserve, which is home to jaguar, king vultures and an immense bat cave. The Conservancy is also working with local partner Pronatura Peninsula Yucatán to find sustainable alternatives to "slash and burn" agriculture, promote better forest management practices, create ecotourism opportunities for local communities and develop a forest fire management plan for the region.

Maya Biosphere Reserve: In Guatemala, the Conservancy is working in the Maya Biosphere Reserve with several local partners, including Defensores de la Naturaleza and the Instituto de Antropología e Historia (IDEAH), to find alternatives to unplanned colonization and excessive natural resource extraction and to improve planning and management capacity.

Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area: In Belize, The Nature Conservancy and partner, Programme for Belize (PfB), have established ecotourism projects in the 260,000 acre Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area to support ongoing conservation activities such as mahogany regeneration and agroforestry.

In addition, the Conservancy and its partners have completed an ecoregional plan for the Maya Forest, based upon remaining natural habitat and compatible resource use. On a tri-national level, the plan will inform regional land-use planning, as well as the Conservancy's landscape-scale approach to conservation in the region.