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Two thousand years later, the heart of the ancient Maya kingdom is largely covered with lowland rainforest, which stretches into the countries now known as Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. The Maya Forest, or Selva Maya in Spanish, is the largest expanse of tropical forest north of the Amazon, but the trees are falling fast.
Biologists began to explore these woods in recent years, monitoring the status of the remarkable profusion of flora and fauna. In early October 1997, 56 Neotropical scientists came together in northern Guatemala, just outside Tikal National Park, to compare research notes and discuss how they could work together to protect the Selva Maya.
"These were the muddy-boots people, who are working --too often in isolation-- in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize," notes Jim Barborak, protected-area specialist with the Wildlife Conservation Society, one of the organizers of the six-day workshop, along with the Smithsonian Institution and Stanford University. The U.S. Monitoring and Biodiversity Program sponsored the meeting.
The biologists, who work for conservation groups, universities, research institutions, and government agencies, discussed ways to collaborate and reach politicians with their wealth of research results. "No dialogue exists between biologists and decision-makers in the three countries," says Carlos Galindo-Leal of Stanford University's Center for Conservation Biology. "Perhaps decision-makers don't realize that there are researchers who want to help them assess the impact of development."
As a helpful reminder, the biologists sent a joint letter to government officials in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize outlining their opposition to major threats to the Selva Maya: current and planned oil drilling in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala and the Lacandona Forest in Mexico; a proposed highway between Mexico's Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and Guatemala's Tikal National Park; and uncontrolled logging and timber contraband along the borders of all three countries.
"The scientific community that met in this workshop wishes to express its concern and willingness to analyze in detail the possible consequences of these activities and discuss alternative solutions," the letter concludes.
Barborak and Galindo-Leal agree that an additional threat to the Selva Maya is continuing immigration into the area by people in search of land to slash, burn, and cultivate. "It's hard for dedicated biologists to talk about the massive population increase in the entire Selva Maya as a mega-threat, as it's so disperse throughout the area," Barborak explains. "It's a particular problem on the Guatemalan side. An influx of refugees is returning from neighboring countries or from elsewhere in Guatemala for economic reasons, enticed by politicians or friends who have struck it rich on their first corn crop."
Immigration is also a serious problem in Mexico's Calakmul Reserve, Galindo-Leal adds. "The soils there are very poor, as the land was coral reef. Corn will grow for only two years, and then farmers need to move. So the area is being quickly deforested."
CONTACTS IN THE U.S.: Jim Barborak, 4424 NW 13th Street, Suite A-1,
Gainesville, FL 32609 tel 352/371-1713 fax 352/375-2449
This article is provided from the Rainforest Alliance's Conservation Media Center,
based in San Jose,Costa Rica. For more information, contact Diane Jukofsky or Chris Wille,
Rainforest Alliance, Apdo. 138-2150, Moravia, San Jose, Costa Rica; Phone: 506-240-9383;
Fax: 506-240-2543; Email: infotrop@sol.racsa.co.cr
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