The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

The local context
4.1.1 Biological and cultural diversity
The general finding that areas with high degrees of biodiversity tend to be characterised
by a high cultural and linguistic variety is equally evident in the case of Guatemala.
Beside a striking ethnic heterogeneity, the country's biological diversity rates
among the highest in Central America. 3 Regional hotspots are to be found in the cloud
forests covering mountain peaks in the central highlands and in the tropical rainforests
of the northern lowlands in the department Petén, which makes up about one-third of
the country's surface. The Selva Maya surrounds most of the Classical Mayan sites. It is
the largest remaining tropical rainforest habitat in the Americas north of the Amazon
and shared with neighbouring Mexico and Belize (O'Kane 1999). 4 Besides the abundance
of wild flora and fauna in diverse ecosystems, Guatemala also belongs to one of
the 12 mega-centres of cultivated plants in the world (Castañeda Salguero et al. 1995). 5
Fig. 4.1 Temple site at Tikal – reminiscent of the ancient Maya reign
3 Relating to the species abundance found in Guatemala, O'Kane (1999) mentions 19 distinct ecosystems
with more than 8,000 plant species, approximately 600 orchid species, including the nearly extinct
white nun orchid, which is the country's national flower, around 200 reptile and amphibian species,
250 mammal and 600 bird species. One of the threatened bird species is the quetzal (Pharomacrus
mocinno), the national bird, for which the unit of currency is named and which became a famous
›flagship species‹ within the conservational movement.
4 The recent history of Petén is reminiscent of Brazil's development. In the 1970s, the Guatemalan
government sought to accommodate the in-migration through land grants and road construction.
But as colonisation was leading to severe deterioration of the forest resources, the policy was reversed
through the establishment of protected areas. According to Hallum (2003), the Selva Maya is
losing its forest cover much faster than the Amazon Basin, at a rate that surpasses 80,000 ha per year
(Nations et al. 1998). For details on the ecological variations and land cover changes in the area, see
History and Destiny of Middle American Forests. The Inheritors of the Mayan Landscape by Furley (1998).
5 Among other cultivated plants, maize, different bean species, pumpkin, cocoa, chili, avocado, tobacco
and cotton originate from Central America and the southern part of Mexico.
111