236,000 acres of the Selva Maya tropical forest in northwestern Belize have now been permanently protected.
“In withstanding hundreds of years of threats, this Mesoamerican ecosystem is now the largest contiguous block of rainforest north of the Amazon, safeguarding treasures of incalculable value," writes The Nature Conservancy.
“Aerial images from recent decades show this forest receding at the edges, where it is increasingly logged for timber or slashed and burned for agriculture. Yet the true, under-recognized value of places like these, so globally rare they are known as 'last-chance ecosystems,' is in the collective power of the intact system.
“Wildlife habitat. Water security. Clean air. Climate mitigation and adaptation. In other words, $125 trillion in ecosystem services, every year without which, we simply cannot survive.”
To experience an encounter with a jaguar in this tropical forest, glimpse an underwater forest and other marvels of this tropical paradise — which may turn out to be your next ecotourism adventure — click here.
Photo credit: Elelicht /Wikimedia CC