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6h ago

Mexico, Guatemala and Belize Launch Great Mayan Jungle Corridor, Set One-Month Roadmap and Security Push

The effort enters a one-month planning phase focused on reestablishing state control over crime-dominated border forests.

FILE - Tourists climb a Mayan temple at the archeological site of Coba, in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Aug. 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo, File)
FILE - Guatemalan special forces soldiers try to cross a river during an anti-drugs operation in the National Park Laguna del Tigre, Guatemala, part of the Mayan Biosphere near the border with Mexico, March 6, 2006. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)
FILE - The inaugural Mayan Train with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on board passes near Chochola, Quintana Roo State, Mexico, Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina, File)
FILE - U.S. archaeologist Richard Hansen, right, shows a limestone frieze found at El Mirador, a Mayan archaeological site, northern Guatemala, March 7, 2009. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo, File)

Overview

  • An intergovernmental committee was created this week to draft a roadmap within a month detailing institutions, participation and financing.
  • Officials agreed to establish an environmental authorities council and a separate Indigenous advisory council to screen all proposed projects in the corridor.
  • Mexico’s environment secretary said the three countries will increase security presence to protect the reserve, citing help from security ministries and the army.
  • Authorities estimate roughly $6 million in seed funding to begin implementation as they seek far larger, sustained resources.
  • Guatemala is providing the largest land share through 27 protected areas, its president has ruled out megaprojects in those zones, and Mexico is proposing an expanded Planting Life program that previously drew WRI criticism for incentivizing deforestation.