|
 Mexico holds
approximately 10% of all plants and animals of the world. Only
Brazil and Indonesia hold more species than Mexico.
Unfortunately, many plants and animals are endangered with
extinction mainly because agriculture, cattle activities, and
illegal trade. To protect its biological heritage Mexico has
implemented a National System of Protected Areas, covering most
ecosystems throughout the country.
With more than
1,700,000 acres, the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is the second
largest protected area in Mexico.
The Friends of Calakmul Inc. a
non-profit organization dedicated to saving the endangered
habitat of the jaguar in Mexico, is trying to guarantee that
privately owned areas within and around the reserve will not be
logged by purchasing conservation easements. Their first
agreement (August, 2001) with the Ejido of Xcupil-cacab, Mexico placed
160,000 acres of land into a land trust. This is the area that
funding from Wildglobe.com will protect. The agreement
places a conservation easement on all land owned by the Ejido,
approximately 65,000 hectares of forest land located in the
western part of the Buffer Zone of the Calakmul Biosphere
Reserve. The conservation easement restricts the use of
the land to conservation only, limiting extraction of any kind.
The land supports a large number of jaguars and thousands
of other species. It is also home to the pyramids of
Calakmul, the tallest of the "Mundo Maya."
For More Information:
Friends of Calakmul: http://www.calakmul.org
|
