The Future of Petén

Today head archaeologist Richard Hansen continued our tour of monumental architecture, while discussing his plans for the development of ecotourism at El Mirador. Hansen is convinced that the only way to stop deforestation is to create a legally protected 810,000-acre no-cut area around the archaeological sites here, bounded by the natural borders of the Mirador Basin. He maintains that all logging — sustainable or not — will sooner or later lead to road-building, slash-and-burn farming, and the permanent destruction of the jungle.

Hansen’s concrete plans for development involve the construction of an $8 million narrow-gauge train that would take people to multiple archaeological sites in the region. Ecolodges at El Mirador would be available for those who wish to spend more than a day. To pay for this infrastructure, Hansen has solicited funding from financial heavyweights in Guatemala and the U.S. Potential investors include members of PACUNAM, an organization of Guatemalan business leaders, who represent 80 percent of Guatemala’s GDP. The owners of Cementos Progreso, Gallo Beer, and Paíz are among the investors. Hansen also entertains the likes of foreign royalty and Hollywood celebrities such as Mel Gibson as part of his effort to generate support for conserving the basin.

Hansen argues that one reason legal protection is needed for the Mirador Basin is to reassure investors that the area would not be deforested any time soon. The complication is that some of the Mirador Basin overlaps with the current multiple use zones of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, where communities have been granted 25-year concessions to sustainably harvest wood from the area. Hansen argues that the concessions should remain in place as community organizations and should oversee the harvesting of non-timber forest products such as chicle, xate, and allspice. However he does not want them to log within the Basin at all, and instead proposes to rent land from the concessions in exchange for a promise not to cut trees. The latter may be a point of contention in communities that have developed local logging companies over the past 10 to 15 years.

Tourist development would undoubtedly affect the social landscape of Petén even if intending to keep the physical landscape unharmed. Tomorrow we’ll have the chance to talk to local workers here about their understanding of their work and this site.