Opportunity to Protect Mirador National Park Will Store Up to 250 Million Tons of Carbon Dioxide Helping to Address Climate Change
WEDNESDAY 24 FEBRUARY 2016 - Peten Guatemala. The president of Costa Rica, Guillermo Solis, with his wife Mercedes Peñas Domingo, took advantage of their stay in Guatemala to make several visits to UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country, travelling by helicopter to visit Mirador National Park.
The leaders of Costa Rica and Guatemala, Guillermo Solis and Jimmy Morales, were shown the site of El Mirador in Peten by Dr. Richard Hansen, who’s critical work to save Mirador National Park is supported by Global Conservation. Mirador is world famous for its Preclassic Mayan cities and La Danta, the tallest pyramid in Mesoamerica.
Home to one of the world's largest pyramids, the Mayan ruins were abandoned a couple thousand years ago. The Mirador Basin — over 2,000 square miles of dense jungle — is vital to conservation of the heart of the Maya Biosphere Reserve.
Mass deforestation, which has already destroyed parts of the ruins, threatens to do irreversible damage to the national park and archaeology of the ancient Mayan civilization and its cities, ancient roads and causeways.
On the trip to the north of the country, the leaders talked to archaeologist Dr. Richard Hansen, Global Conservation project director and President of the Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies (FARES).
"Guatemala is one of the most beautiful places in the world and we must protect and conserve it’s great riches, especially its culture," Solis said.
According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Raul Morales, the visit to El Mirador was conducted with the support of the Cultural Heritage Foundation and Natural Maya (Pacunam), APANAC and its president Francois Berger, with the heritage tour led by archaeologist Dr. Richard Hansen.
According to INGUAT, the Ministry of Tourism, during 2015 the country received 1.8 million visitors, with over 2,400 visiting Mirador and 640,000 to Tikal National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
For video of the presidents on summit of La Danta, see Soy502.
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