Mirador National Park 2019-2020 Progress Report

Global Conservation is working to secure permanent protection for Mirador National Park in Petén, Guatemala – the Heart of the Maya Biosphere and the Cradle of Maya Civilization. Mirador National Park and the Mirador Wilderness Area are composed of Biotopos Dos Lagunas, Selva Maya and El Zotz, which together comprise the largest intact tropical forest in Mesoamerica (an area that spans central Mexico south to northern Costa Rica). Mirador National Park also boasts 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.

The vast, uninterrupted rainforests of Mirador, with La Danta pyramid in the foreground.

Mirador is a critical site not only for the conservation of biodiversity, but also cultural heritage. The archaeological importance of this site was emphasized in 2018 when a 3D LiDAR survey led by Dr. Richard Hansen revealed thousands of ancient structures in 25 major cities across the landscape.

La Danta pyramid is the largest pyramid by volume in the world.

Unfortunately, the Maya Biosphere has lost over 80% of its intact tropical forests and wildlife habitats in the past 20 years, and its archaeological sites are threatened by looting and development. With Global Conservation’s support and matching funding from Rainforest Trust, the private nonprofit FundaEco has been working hard to stop illegal activities in Parque Nacional Mirador – Rio Azul (Mirador-Rio Azul National Park) and surrounding areas.

Fires are intentionally set by people who are illegally clearing the rainforest to make way for cattle ranching, which supports narcotrafficking.

These efforts are being led by Francisco Asturias, Director of FundaEco and the Mirador Park Rangers. These rangers are a combined team of government police and military, NGO-trained rangers, and community Ecoguards working together to stop wildlife poaching, looting of archaeological sites, illegal logging, and land clearing for cattle ranching. This land clearing is especialyl contentious because it supports narcotrafficking by providing a medium for money laundering, drug smuggling, and territory control. In the past two years, Asturias and his team have achieved the following:

Law Enforcement

FundaEco spent three years training a special ranger team to carry out patrols with the army (Ministerio de la Defensa Nacional) and the police, as well as permanently patrolling the entire Mirador area using the SMART patrol system. In the last 18 months, Mirador Park rangers have patrolled more than 42,870 km (an average of 2,382 km per month) during more than 10,180 patrol hours, and have identified 62 crimes in the area.

Poachers caught on camera trap in Mirador.

Illegal logging of hardwoods on the Mexican-Guatemalan border has been a persistent problem. FundaEco is collaborating with Calakmul Biosphere Reserve authorities, just across the border in Mexico, to address this issue and other transboundary concerns. Rangers have now spent 6 months patrolling this area and have arrested three illegal loggers, as well as seizing illegal logging equipment and a truck. An investigation is ongoing, and in the 9 months leading up to February 2020, no trees were cut.

FundaEco has also increased the number of vehicles available for transportation of rangers and the army by 270% and ensured that ranger teams are properly equipped with the materials needed for long and difficult patrols.

Mirador Park rangers lead illegal loggers out of the forest. Photo courtesy Francisco Asturias.

Mirador Park rangers have now been trained in, among other things:

1. The SMART Patrol system
2. Protected areas management
3. Fighting forest fires
4. Biological monitoring
5. First aid
6. Garmin InReach GPS system
7. Self defense
8. Trail and camp maintenance
9. Visitor safety and security
10. Assisting community tourism cooperatives

Jaguars are one of the species that poachers target in Mirador.

Scientific Monitoring

FundaEco has been collaborating with the University of Guatemala Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas (CECON) and the University of Mexico (UNAM) for more than two years to monitor jaguar populations in Mirador-Rio Azul. Scientific monitoring teams installed 30 camera traps across a 100km transect. All of those cameras captured images of jaguars.

Scientists place a camera trap to monitor wildlife in Mirador.

Through this work, FundaEco has discovered that this area contains the densest jaguar population in Mesoamerica, and likely the largest jaguar population north of the Amazon.

A jaguar photographed by a camera trap in Mirador.

Outreach and Education

In addition to law enforcement and scientific monitoring, FundaEco is working on community outreach and education. They have sponsored health clinics that have treated more than 500 cases since December 2018, as well as producing a kids’ coloring book, delivering school supplies to local children, and staging environmentally-themed plays as a medium for environmental education.

Further, FundaEco has constructed a ranger camp and tourist information center in a strategic location to stop illegal activities on the main trails.

The new tourist information center. Photo courtesy Francisco Asturias.

Finally, recognizing the importance of international collaboration and exchange of knowledge and expertise, FundaEco has participated in the following international meetings:

• Global Conservation Board of Directors meeting
• Calakmul Biosphere Reserve authority meeting, Mexico
• Joint meeting among Belize, Mexico and Guatemala
• Jaguar Symposium, Cancun, Mexico
• Sierra del Divisor National Park authority meeting, Peru
• Corcovado and La Amistad National Park authorities meeting, Costa Rica.

A pair of pumas caught on camera trap in Mirador. Photo courtesy Francisco Asturias.

Looking Forward

2020 will be our fourth year of a five-year GPD program. Our long-term goal in Mirador is to achieve “No Cut, No Kill” protection while increasing tourism revenues to benefit local communities. We also aim to achieve UNESCO World Heritage Designation for Mirador, and to expand the area of the park by purchasing neighboring forestry concessions.

Objectives

• Establish permanent legal protection for the nature, wildlife and archaeological heritage of Mirador.
• Assist the Guatemalan government in securing UNESCO World Heritage designation.
• Negotiate trade-offs with stakeholders that will determine which lands will be integrated into the new, larger national park.
• Secure larger international support for park set-up after initial five-year startup operations.
• Achieve an economically sustainable protected area within the next ten years, ie. tourism revenues exceed park operating costs.

Global Conservation Senior Advisor Dr. Gerardo Ceballos with a radio-collared jaguar.

Critical Initiatives

Global Conservation is sponsoring three critical initiatives in 2020-2024:

1. Establishing the Mirador Park Authority – Working in close collaboration with the Guatemalan government's Consejo National de Areas Protegidas (CONAP), the Instituto Guatemalteco de Turismo (INGUAT) and local communities, we will organize a professional ranger force and park management. Mirador Park Authority integrates existing guards, experts from Tikal National Park, and local NGOs to protect Mirador National Park.
2. SMART Ranger Patrols - Provide wildlife anti-poaching training, equipment, rations and technical support to Mirador National Park rangers to implement SMART patrols, increasing coverage, accountability and interdictions of illegal activities.
3. Habitat Acquisition and New Protection for Core Wildlife Areas – There are highly important areas for wildlife habitat in Mirador. Funding land acquisitions and implementing protection networks for these core areas is the highest priority.