Latin American States Protect Second-Largest American Rainforest As The ‘Great Mayan Reserve’

Latin American States Protect Second-Largest American Rainforest As The ‘Great Mayan Reserve’

Latin American States Protect Second-Largest American Rainforest As The ‘Great Mayan Reserve’ (Left to right) Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Belizean Prime Minister Johnny Briceño – credit, Gob.mx, released. Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala have announced the creation of a “biocultural” reserve to protect a trinational area corresponding with the borders of the classical Mayan empire. The second-largest intact tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Maya Region stretches tens of millions of acres through southern Mexico and her two Central American neighbors. Its treasures are many and varied, from towering temple pyramids to as-yet undiscovered ruins, and from the Maya’s living descendants who practice traditional craft, sport, and ritual, to the native wildlife like jaguar, tapir, and quetzal birds which live alongside them. Covering 600,000 hectares in Belize, 2.7 million in Guatemala, and 2.4 million in Mexico, (more than 14 million acres i…