GC Reports:  On Patrol in Mirador 2018 – Stopping Wildlife Poaching, Illegal Logging and Looting of Archeological Sites

Global Conservation is working to secure the permanent protection for Mirador National Park in Peten, Guatemala – the Heart of the Maya Biosphere and the Cradle of Maya Civilization.

The Maya Biosphere has lost over 80% of its intact tropical forests and wildlife habitats in the past 20 years.

Mirador National Park is the last major intact primary forest remaining in Central America endowed with over 40 major ancient Maya cities, immense temples and pyramids, and hundreds of miles of interconnected Mayan causeways, all in an area larger than Yellowstone.

Mirador Patrols are working hard patrolling over 25,000 kilometers in the past year to protect Mirador National Park - the Heart of the Maya Biosphere, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which is losing an average of 100,000 acres a year to land clearing for slash and burn agriculture and cattle ranching.

Below is a summary of progress on the ground patrolling over 660,000 acres by the Mirador Rangers. The Mirador National Park PROTECT program is led by Mr. Francisco Asturius, Director of FundaEco, Global Conservation’s NGO partner in Guatemala.

Threats to Mirador from all sides include narco­trafficking, illegal logging, wildlife poaching, hunting and land clearing for cattle ranching driven by profits of narco-trafficking.

Looted tomb discovered too late in Wakna, one of the 7 largest ancient Maya cities in MIrador located en route from Nakbe to La Florida in the Selva Maya concession area.

Illegal Logging in the Paixban Concession found and now Mirador Rangers are returning with the Army and CONAP to arrest the perpetrators.

Hunting is out of control in the last forests of the Maya Biosphere. Here a hunter is captured with shotgun and deer shot by Mirador Rangers.

Some of the dangers of patrolling Mirador includes many different types of poisonous snakes.

Profile on Francisco Asturias Director of Mirador Rangers

Construction almost complete on Ranger Station in El Jabalí on main trails into Mirador National Park.

Cameras funded by Global Conservation cover both Mirador and Calakmul Mexico – 60 in all – giving us for the first time an accurate jaguar and prey population count.

Photos by Francisco Asturias unless noted.