The Future of Petén

On April 30, the Inter-American Development Bank approved $907,780 in funding for sustainable tourism development in northern Petèn. The Executing Agency is the Fundación Para El Desarrollo de Guatemala, FUNDESA.

It looks like the Guatemalan forest rangers from CONAP, the Council of Protected Areas, think they can make a dent in the eviction of ranchers who have staked illegal claims to the land in the Maya forest — if they get a lot more funding from the federal government. Claudia Santizo, CONAP’s secretary, said the [...]

From what we’ve heard, “Cuatro Balam” is a name with symbolic resonance. Bayron Castellanos, of the NGO Balam (a separate entity from the government plan), tells us it’s not geographic reference but an allusion to Maya cosmology where the four cardinal directions have to be in balance. In other words, what they do in the [...]

On July 16, when Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom presented the Cuatro Balam plan for increased tourism and environmental protection within the Maya Biosphere Reserve, he showed the following video: The video invokes the wisdom of the ancient Maya, their superior knowledge of the heavens and the natural world. It goes on to paint a picture [...]

Richard Hansen, Director of the Mirador Basin Project and head archaeologist at El Mirador archaeological site was named Environmentalist of the Year by Latin Trade magazine. Latin Trade today announced the winners of the Latin Trade Bravo Business Awards intended to “honor government and business leaders for their contributions to progress in Latin America.” The [...]

Our Future of Petén multimedia team has been searching the Flores, Guatemala area for lumber workers to tell us their story. Today we found a few and broke that Flores lassitude fade into the distance.

FLORES, Guatemala — A bottle of clear water was set before me, drops of condensation from the recent refrigeration clinging to its sides. I just had to twist off the cap and drink. And I did, and it was good and tasted just like water should taste, like nothing but refreshing just the same. Of [...]

The jungle of Mirador spit us out on Sunday. One hundred miles swelling up our feet, we stumbled into Carmelita and drank ourselves a Famosa and inhaled some PBJ sandwiches while watching las mulas swat away flies from their behinds. Small curious childen watched us as we sprawled on plastic lawn chairs y Doña Pati [...]

Yesterday we completed our two-day return hike from El Mirador to Carmelita. The bajos again felt muddy and endless, but with the help of an early start and a mule ride, we made it out. On our own, without the archaeologists for the first time in many days, our group of four felt small. On [...]

Recap of trek to Mirador through photos.