Sader, S.A., C. Reining, T. Sever, and C. Soza. 1997. Human Migration and agricultural expansion: an impending threat to the Maya Biosphere Reserve. Journal of Forestry 95(12):27-32.

The Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) in the Peten District was established in 1990 by the congress of the Republic of Guatemala. The reserve represents the largest contiguous tract of protected tropical forest remaining in Central America. Recently, the MBR in northern Guatemala has become more accessible as new roads have been constructed by petroleum companies and logging interests. Peasant farmers have followed roads to establish maize-based agricultural plots. New towns and settlements have become established, attracting more landless farmers to the area.

The MBR contains three types of management units. The core areas (parks and reserves) has the highest level of protection. The larger multiple use zone allows some forms of extractive uses such as chicle and xate collection, hunting and commercial logging. The buffer zone on the southern boundary of the reserve has no restrictions on land use. The goal of conservation efforts in the region is to encourage sustainable development and prevent the encroachment of the agricultural frontier across the boundaries of the Maya Biosphere Reserve.

Time-series analysis of satellite imagery offers the best opportunity to visualize and quantify forest clearing patterns in the remote northern Peten region of Guatemala that was practically undisturbed prior to the mid-1980’s. Time-series monitoring of the MDR in northern Guatemala detected high rates of forest clearing, especially in the buffer zone (over 3% per year in the early 1990’s). Temporal and spatial analysis of the MBR imagery led to inferences about the socioeconomic driving forces that were operating in specific corridors and management zones of the Reserve.

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