Una visión para el futuro, una agenda para hoy - Eco-Index

The Natural AreasWe Need to ConserveThe vision of the Maya Forest Ecoregional Plan is toform a network of areas spanning 13,667,546hectares so that the biological diversity of thisregion is maintained for future generations.Currently just 7 million hectares are located withinofficially declared protected areas. More than sixmillion hectares require a sustainable form ofmanagement to ensure their long termconservation, and the current protected areasystem needs to be strengthened.The Network of Conservation Areas was designedso that representative and viable samples of theregion’s ecosystems and species can be preserved.An estimated 81% of the conservation goalsestablished for the 29 ecological systems existing inthe zone and 87% of the goals for the 418 speciesselected as representative are covered by theNetwork of Conservation Areas. Presently theprotected area systems of the three countriessafeguard only 33% of the goals established forecological systems, leaving a crucial 48% of thegoals still without protection.The more than 13.6 million hectares in theNetwork of Conservation Areas are formed by 43management units.Area Encompassed by the Selva MayaEcoregional Plan (ha)Planning unit 31,429,653Network ofselectedconservation areas 13,667,546Protected areaswithin the planningunit 7,054,696Network ofconservation areasnot included inprotected areas 6,612,85015