Maya Project

in Neotropical Program:

Status: Complete. 1988 – 1996

Maya Project site

Goals:

To help conserve tropical biodiversity, we devised a project with two main goals. One goal was to assist in the conservation of forest and its associated life forms in a particular area--the "Maya Forest" region of Guatemala, Belize, and México. The second goal was to provide knowledge that would be transferable to other areas and situations--knowledge that might help broadly in the cause of tropical conservation. Hence we developed a project with the following three components:

Scientific Research

Our research focused on forest-dependent birds of prey and documenting their basic ecology and their habitat and spatial needs. We also studied other members of the bird community, including North American migrants. We focused on land uses prevalent in the area, and on how these affect the forest and its fauna.

Development of Human Resources

The Maya Project involved more than 100 local people, many of them for several years. Much training was conducted within the project, and support was provided for college education of several individuals. Many participants became highly skilled ecological field technicians and several progressed far beyond the technician level. We also conducted environmental education within local primary schools.

Habitat Conservation

In addition to studying the way in which commercial logging and shifting cultivation interact with the forest biota and with conservation goals, we worked directly with local farmers, to help them adopt new methods that would allow them to cease cutting down additional forest for farming purposes.

Background:

The Maya Project was conducted from 1988 through 1996 in one of the largest remaining areas of tropical forest in northern Central America. Most of the project took place in Tikal National Park, Guatemala's remote Petén Department, with some activities taking place elsewhere in Petén, and in nearby portions of Belize and Mexico. The Maya Project was largely a biological research project focusing on a set of 20 species of forest-dwelling raptors that form the backbone of the forest raptor community throughout the entire Neotropical lowlands, from Mexico to Argentina. Our research focused on these raptors' basic biology, habitat and spatial needs, and on other aspects of the forest ecosystem and its conservation, for example, the ways in which land uses such as mahogany logging and slash-and-burn farming affect forest vegetation and birds. Since the end of field work in 1996, our emphasis has been on publishing results in scientific journals and in a book that is nearing completion.

Final Summary:

In 2002, a complete web site was published detailing the research and results of the Maya Project.

In 2010, the book arising from the Maya Project, called “Raptors of the Maya Forest,” was submitted to Cornell University Press for publication.

Challenges:

Project Links:

Project History (no field notes)
Publications and Data (no misc. information)
(no photos or video)

Location Note:

Guatemala, Belize, southern Mexico

Species involved

People involved in this project:

Rick Watson Ph.D. Vice President and Director of International Programs

Cooperating Partners:

  • Alfred Juzykowski Foundation
  • Andrés and Pilar Sada
  • Belize Audubon Society
  • Belize Forestry Department
  • Belize Ministry of Natural Resources
  • Belize Zoo
  • CARE/Guatemala
  • CECON
  • CONAMA
  • CONAP
  • Conservation International
  • Crystal Channel Foundation
  • Evie Donaldson
  • Fanwood Foundation
  • FIIT
  • Fundación Mario Dary Rivera (FUNDARY)
  • Gold Family Foundation
  • Henry and Wendy Paulson
  • IDAEH
  • Joe and Flinda Terteling
  • KENNETECH/U.S. Windpower
  • Mill Pond Press
  • National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
  • Norcross Foundation
  • Programme for Belize
  • PRONATURA
  • Robert Berry
  • Ruth Andres
  • SEDUE
  • Stanford University Center for Conservation Biology
  • The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
  • The Nature Conservancy
  • The Pew Charitable Trusts
  • U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
  • U.S. Man and the Biosphere Program/Tropical Ecosystems Directorate
  • Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala
  • Weeden Foundation
  • William H. and Mattie Wattis Harris Foundation