Perimeter Defense: Innovative Technologies for

Detecting and Preventing Illegal Logging

SESSION III: DEMO SITE: M AYA BIOSPHERE RESERVE, PETN, GUATEMALA
The Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR), established in 1990, is located in the Petn department of northern
Guatemala, and covers 2.1 million hectares (5.2 million acres). The MBR makes up part of the Maya Forest
(Selva Maya), which spans neighboring portions of Guatemala, Belize and Mexico. The Reserve makes up
close to 20% of the country and 60% of the national protected areas system, provides 90% of the countrys
petroleum, and is home to about 180,000 people.
N: 1749'N; 8909'W
S: 1648'N; 9033' W
E: 1749'N; 8909'W
W: 1715'N; 9126'W

Map 1. Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petn, Guatemala. Image Source: CONAP

General conditions
Administrative authorities
Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP)
Center for Conservation Studies (CECON)
Instituto de Antropologa e Historia (IDAEH)

Zoning
The biosphere reserve includes several core zones (36% of the reserve; 767,000 ha), a multiple use zone
(40%; 848,400 ha) and a buffer zone (24%; 497,500 ha). The core zones consist of six national parks and four
biotopes. It also contains a one cultural monument, and one municipal reserve, both informally recognized. By
regulation, the core zones are restricted from heavy land management, and allowed uses include scientific
research and tourism.
The multiple use zone is used for low-impact use and it contains 10 forest concessions granted to communities
and private industries managed for sustainable timber and non-timber forest extraction. Forest concessions
are required to be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).
The buffer zone, which makes up the southern portion of the reserve, is most heavily used for agriculture and
cattle ranching and has been the most heavily converted to non forest uses.

Map 2. Use zones and concessions in the MBR. Image source: CONAP

Map 3. Logging concessions in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Image source: CONAP

Source: Rainforest Alliance

Values
The MBR hosts a significant portion of the Guatemalan biodiversity containing close to 40% of vertebrates and
vascular plants recorded for the country. It is also the last refuge of "landscape species" that need large
portions of suitable habitat to have viable populations. This species include jaguars, white lipped peccaries,
Baird`s tapirs, Morelets crocodiles and the last population of scarlet macaws in the country. The forests in the
MBR contain also the biggest carbon reserve of Guatemala stored in live biomass and significant water
resources including two of the most important rivers, the Usumacinta and the San Pedro.
Along with biodiversity and natural conservation values, the MBR contains more than 2000 registered ancient
Maya sites, some of them among the most important in terms of historical, artistic and architectural relevance.
Examples of this sites include Tikal (a UNESCO World Heritage), Mirador, Piedras Negras, Yaxh among
many more.
The MBR is also important because the globally recognized processes of forest management by communities,
exemplary in the region and awarded several times both locally and internationally.

Physical conditions
Rainfall averages between 1,210 and 2,300 millimeters annually with a mean value of 1557 millimeters. Most
of the rainfall occurs between the end of May and the beginning of January. Mean temperature ranges from
23C to 26C with a mean value of 25.1C. The hottest and driest months are April and May when
temperatures can reach values above 40C. Soil fertility is in general poor and drainage conditions vary
considerably across the reserve. Altitude ranges from 13 to 665 meters above sea level and the mean value is
184 meters above sea level.

Habitats and land use

Two dominant types of forest are present, broadleaved medium-tall and broadleaved low. The broadleaved
medium-tall forest has an average height of 25 meters with emergent trees that can reach 35 meters. The
broadleaved low forest has an average height of 10 meters and in the dry season is almost completely
defoliated. Other types of natural habitats are "jimbales", a tall grass savanna that is highly combustible and
almost every year burnt. A large complex of wetlands exists mostly in the Laguna del Tigre National Park (a
Ramsar site) and two of the most important rivers of Guatemala, the Usumacinta and San Pedro are within the
MBR and have large part of their catchment area in the reserve.
Anthropogenic land uses are dominated by cattle ranches that use large extensions of land to grow bovines.
Subsistence agriculture is mostly based in the production of maize and beans, but occupies a much smaller
area compared to cattle ranching. Emerging land uses include African oil palm, Teak plantations and papaya,
all of them still relatively small in terms of area cultivated, but expanding very fast.
The average net conversion rate of forests for between 2000-2014 is close to a loss of 17,000 hectares
annually with significant variation during that period of time. The highest rate value was reached in 2009 with
more than 25,000 hectares lost, and since then it has lowered to values around 11,000 hectares between
2012-2014.

Map 4. Forest Cover Change in the MBR, 2000-2013. Image source: CONAP

Human population and accessibility

The MBR has an estimated population of 180,000, mostly (64%) in the Buffer Zone. The Multiple Use Zone
has close to 20% of the population mainly in the "Ruta a Carmelita" and "Ruta a Melchor de Mencos" corridors
and the Laguna del Tigre and Sierra del Lacandn National Parks host close to 14%.
Accessibility is highly correlated to human settlements and easier in the Buffer Zone. Significant portions of
areas easily accessible are located along the Mxico-Guatemala border in the Northwest of the reserve, due to
the presence of populations and infrastructure in the Mexican side and to the Usumacinta river that is a
navigable waterway. The less accessible areas are located in the North-central and Northeastern portions of
the reserve and coincide with the best conserved habitat.

Threats
Using the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation1 threat taxonomy the following list of threats
identifies those relevant to the MBR with a level of importance value.
Threat according to OSPC
Present
1 Residential & Commercial Development
1.1 Housing & Urban Areas
Yes
1.2 Commercial & Industrial Areas
No
1.3 Tourism & Recreation Areas
Yes
2 Agriculture & Aquaculture
2.1 Annual & Perennial Non-Timber Crops Yes
2.2 Wood & Pulp Plantations
Yes
2.3 Livestock Farming & Ranching
Yes
2.4 Marine & Freshwater Aquaculture
No
3 Energy Production & Mining
3.1 Oil & Gas Drilling
3.2 Mining & Quarrying
3.3 Renewable Energy
4 Transportation & Service Corridors
4.1 Roads & Railroads
4.2 Utility & Service Lines
4.3 Shipping Lanes
4.4 Flight Paths
5 Biological Resource Use
5.1 Hunting & Collecting Terrestrial
Animals
5.2 Gathering Terrestrial Plants
5.3 Logging & Wood Harvesting
5.4 Fishing & Harvesting Aquatic
Resources
6 Human Intrusions & Disturbance
6.1 Recreational Activities
6.2 War, Civil Unrest & Military Exercises
6.3 Work & Other Activities

Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No

Importance Threat according to OSPC

Present
7 Natural System Modifications
Very low
7.1 Fire & Fire Suppression
Yes
7.2 Dams & Water Management/Use
Yes
Low
7.3 Other Ecosystem Modifications
No
8 Invasive & Other Problematic Species & Genes
Medium
8.1 Invasive Non-Native/Alien Species
Yes
Low
8.2 Problematic Native Species
No
Very high
8.3 Introduced Genetic Material
Yes
9 Pollution
9.1 Household Sewage & Urban Waste
Water
Yes
High
9.2 Industrial & Military Effluents
No
9.3 Agricultural & Forestry Effluents
Yes
9.4 Garbage & Solid Waste
Yes
9.5 Air-Borne Pollutants
No
High
9.6 Excess Energy
No
10 Geological Events
Very low
10.1 Volcanoes
No
10.2 Earthquakes/Tsunamis
No
10.3 Avalanches/Landslides
No

Importance
Very high
Low

Medium
Low

Low
Low
Low

Yes
Yes
Yes

Medium
Low
Medium

11 Climate Change & Severe Weather

11.1 Habitat Shifting & Alteration
11.2 Droughts

Yes
Yes

Medium
High

Yes

Medium

11.3 Temperature Extremes

11.4 Storms & Flooding

Yes
Yes

High
Medium

Yes
No
No

Low

Forest fires are by far the biggest threat for the MBR habitats in terms of potential area affected. In 1998, 2003
and 2005 in coincidence with El Nio events more than 300,000 hectares where affected by fire much of them,
more than one time. All fires are caused by human activities, mainly the use of fire to clear land for cattle
ranching and agriculture that then escape into the forest. Cattle ranching is the most important cause of
deforestation, with a distant second place going to subsistence agriculture.

http://cmp-openstandards.org/tools/threats-and-actions-taxonomies/

Some other contextual factors are useful to explain the threats. These include suspected organized crime
involvement in activities like land grabbing, money laundering and human trafficking. These activities are
connected to areas close to the large common border between Mxico and Guatemala mostly in the Western
portion of the MBR that lacks significant institutional and law enforcement presence. More recently there are
worries related to the increasing reports of illegal logging of selected wood species (Dalbergia spp mainly)
apparently driven by Chinese organized crime groups.
Just outside of the reserve, the population of Petn has ballooned from 25,000 to over 500,000 over 30 years,
increasing pressures to increase development of the buffer zone and further into the reserve.

References
Allen, William (2012). In the land of the Maya, a battle for a vital forest. Yale Environment 360. Available at:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/in_the_land_of_the_maya_a_battle_for_a_vital_forest/2580
Rainforest Alliance, CONAP, Wildlife Conservation Society (2015). Deforestation Trends in the Maya
Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala (2000-2013). Available at: http://www.rainforestalliance.org/sites/default/files/publication/pdf/MBR-Deforestation_150213-2.pdf
Sundberg, Juanita (1998). NGO landscapes in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala. Geographical
Review 88, 388-412.
UNESCO (2011). Biosphere reserve information, Guatemala, Maya. Available at:
http://www.unesco.org/mabdb/br/brdir/directory/biores.asp?code=GUA+01&mode=all