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GuatemalaAbout Guatemala | Rainforest Alliance in Guatemala | Eco-Index | Species Profiles | Join Us! About Guatemala
Guatemala is Central America's western-most country, bordering Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. The southwest coast rests along the Pacific Ocean between El Salvador and Mexico, and the eastern shores snuggle into the Gulf of Honduras between Honduras and Belize. With more than 8,000 higher plant species, 250 species of mammals, 221 bird species -- including the National bird, the quetzal -- and nearly 14 million people, Guatemala's diversity is phenomenal.
Guatemala is known historically as the stronghold of Mayan culture. The Maya civilization was one of the most impressive in the history of the world, occupying a vast geographic area in Central and South America - what is now Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, and most of Guatemala and Belize - from around 2000 BC until 1500 AD.
Guatemala's topography is almost as varied and complex as its cultural history. Some 30 volcanoes lie in the west, making the area extremely prone to earthquakes. Some volcanoes reach heights of over 12,000 ft. Aside from volatile volcanoes, Guatemala also possesses cool mountain highlands, coastal plains, and a limestone plateau.
One of the greatest efforts to preserve the geographical and cultural roots of the Guatemalan people is the creation of the Maya Biosphere Reserve encompassing 10 percent of Guatemala's total land area, located in the Petén region in the northeastern part of the country, and extending to the Maya Forests of Belize and Mexico. This large expanse of preserved land is the northern-most tropical forest in the Western hemisphere and the largest contiguous tropical forest north of the Amazon. The 800,000 hectares (1,976,800 acres) of tropical forest are dedicated to the sustainable harvest of xate palms, chicle gum, allspice, and timber. Notable about the first three above is that all are renewable forest products that can be harvested without killing the plant and without destroying the forest. Likewise, sustainable timber harvesting provides essential income for local people while maintaining long-term forest health for the benefit of people, plants and wildlife. Tropical humid forests and wetlands make up the bulk of the reserve.
Since its creation in 1990, the reserve has created a niche for international tourism, bolstering the need for sustainable tourism operations, and providing alternatives to the slash and burn agriculture that threatened conservation measures within the Petén.
The largest threat to continued conservation is agricultural conversion. Agriculture currently accounts for 25% of Guatemala's GDP with major export products including bananas , coffee, and sugar. Agriculture accounts for about 45% of land use within Latin America and is the human activity that uses the most fresh water. Many farmers walk a fine line between providing for their families and destroying their means of existence. Sustainable agriculture, as promoted by the Rainforest Alliance and the Sustainable Agriculture Network, is one of the most effective conservation tools to prevent inappropriate land conversion, habitat and biodiversity loss and the exodus of distraught farmers to overcrowded cities. Read about the Rainforest Alliance's work in Guatemala. Sources and Further Reading:
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