Latin America just created its second-largest nature reserve – and it’s bigger than some countries!
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by today’s climate headlines – record-breaking heatwaves, devastating wildfires, and forests bulldozed for development. But amid the bleak news, there’s a major win for the planet: three Latin American countries have joined forces to safeguard one of Earth’s great green lungs.
A trinational sanctuary in the Great Mayan Forest
Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala have officially designated a colossal 14 million acres of the Maya Forest as a protected area. Known as the Biocultural Corridor of the Great Mayan Forest, this sweeping reserve links together 50 protected zones – 12 in Mexico, 27 in Guatemala, and 11 in Belize – across the Yucatán Peninsula. Many of these forests have remained untouched since the days of the ancient Maya.
To put it in perspective: this corridor is now the second-largest nature reserve in Latin America, second only to the Amazon itself.
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Home to 7,000 species – and priceless heritage
The corridor will safeguard habitats for more than 7,000 species, including 200 endangered ones like jaguars, scarlet macaws, tapirs, and the resplendent quetzal. But it’s not only wildlife that will benefit. Indigenous communities, long regarded as the forest’s true guardians, will have their cultural traditions woven into conservation strategies, ensuring protection for both biodiversity and heritage.
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Calling the agreement “historic,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praised the move, describing the Maya Forest as “one of Earth’s lungs, a living space for thousands of species with an invaluable cultural legacy that we must preserve with our eyes on the future.”
At a time when natural habitats are shrinking at alarming rates, the Great Mayan Forest’s new corridor stands as proof of what can be achieved when nations work together – and a rare reason to breathe a little easier.
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