Mesoamerica is a biodiversity hotspot; with only 0.5 percent of the world's land area, the region is home to 7 percent of the world's biological diversity, including rare and endangered species. Natural forests such as the 5 Great Forests of Mesoamerica contain more than six times the carbon of the most degraded forests and hold approximately half of the region's forest carbon stocks. They also provide essential ecosystem services to five million people.
The 5 Great Forests of Mesoamerica are Selva Maya in Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize; La Moskitia in Nicaragua and Honduras; Indio Maíz-Tortuguero in Nicaragua and Costa Rica; La Amistad in Costa Rica and Panama; and El Darién in Panama and Colombia. Mesoamerica's most vulnerable populations to climate change, women and men in indigenous and local forest communities, manage and protect half of the remaining forested area in the five forests, depending on their resources for cultural identity, food security, income, and more. Forests managed by indigenous peoples with secure tenure have much lower deforestation rates than forests outside indigenous lands. The 5 Great Forests Alliance which includes governments, NGOs, academia, Indigenous Peoples, and local communities partners, has announced its commitment to protecting the 5 Great Forests of Mesoamerica — the last remaining intact forests from Mexico to Colombia critical for wildlife, carbon sequestration, clean water, and food security to five million people.
Although it may look like a simple moment of enjoyment, the bath taken by the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) is a behavior documented in wild individuals. Field studies have observed this species entering water bodies and rolling in the mud, and it has been proposed that this may help them cool down or get rid of external parasites.
A new study from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Cornell Lab), published in Biological Conservation, reveals that the Five Great Forests of Central America—which stretch from southern Mexico to northern Colombia—are indispensable lifelines for dozens of migratory bird species that link the Americas.
In La Moskitia, the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus) is facing a worrying decline driven by habitat loss and illegal wildlife trafficking. To ensure its survival, community monitoring has become an essential tool: it allows for understanding the status of its populations, identifying critical areas, and guiding evidence-based protection actions.
In a new study published in Conservation Biology, scientists from WSU and the Wildlife Conservation Society found that a community-managed forest in Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve supports a rich variety of wildlife.