Maya Biosphere Reserve of Guatemala

Maya Biosphere Reserve is basically a nature reserve based in Guatemala. This attraction of the country of Guatemala is governed by an organization called CONAP. This nature reserve encompasses an area of around 21,500 sq. km; which makes it one of the biggest nature reserves of the country as well as the continent.

The animal species housed by this reserve forest is quite diverse. During your visit to Maya Biosphere Reserve, you will come across fauna species like puma, jaguar, margay, crocodiles, white-tailed deer, different species of hawks, tapirs, howler monkeys, ocelot, spider monkeys, harpy eagles, scarlet macaws, red brocket, fresh water turtle and many more. This Central American nature reserve is also home to a wide variety of flora species like cedar, mahogany, ceiba etc. The area covered by Maya Biosphere Reserve consists of different kinds of water bodies, like streams, cenotes, rivers and lakes, short mountain ranges and wetlands.

The nature reserve was established in the year 1990 and it includes the largest share of the existing tropical forests of Central America. The basic model of the Maya Biosphere Reserve was executed by UNESCO; the project was primarily planned for promoting balance between the biosphere and human activities through inclusion of sustainable economic developments in plans drafted for conservation.

This biosphere reserve boasts a number of zones; each of these zones possesses varied protected status. Core zones of this nature reserve consist of several wildlife preserves or biotopes and national parks; in these areas no logging, extraction or human settlement is allowed. Examples of some of the most prominent segments of the biosphere reserve’s core zone are:  Biotopes like El Zotz, Cerro Cahuí etc and national parks like Mirador-Río Azul, Tikal etc. The core zones of Maya Biosphere Reserve include 7670 sq. km. of area, which is almost 36 percent of the total area of this nature reserve.