January 16, 2006

Conservation Reunites Dispersed Mayan Community
Innovative agreements will complete protection of Mexico’s largest tropical forest

SAN MATEO, Calif. (January 16, 2006) – After months of searching through the jungle towns of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, Friends of Calakmul (FOC) conservation organization has re-united a community of Mayan farmers to help them protect some of the country’s last remaining jaguar habitat.   

The farmers, part of a communal group known as the Chan-Yaxhe ejido, are the last surviving owners of nearly 20,000 acres of rainforest in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.  Given the parcel in the 1940s during land reforms following the Mexican Revolution, the community initially used it for traditional subsistence farming.  However, it wasn’t long before new settlers began arriving in growing numbers, encouraged by a government campaign to populate the region.  Chan-Yaxhe community members watched as the area’s natural resources and wildlife were increasingly exploited by non-native loggers.  After struggling for years against the destructive changes to their homeland, the Chan-Yaxhe eventually tired of the fighting and gradually dispersed throughout the Yucatan.  Local authorities lost track of them.  Many members died of old age, leaving rightful landownership to descendents far and wide.     

Now, after extensive efforts by FOC to track down former community leaders, the Chan-Yaxhe ejido will be reassembling for the first time in decades.  The community plans to elect new officers, re-establish their legal status and sign a partnership agreement with FOC to guarantee long term protection of their rainforest.    

“After all these years, what’s amazing is that a conservation goal has brought them back together,” said FOC co-founder Dr. Alberto Szekeley. “By deciding to put their land under conservation easements, the people of Chan-Yaxhe will gain monthly payments above what logging companies offer and in turn will be guaranteeing that this rainforest is left in its natural state forever.”

When these conservation easement agreements are finalized with Chan-Yaxhe and another ejido community named Conhuas, FOC will have added 118,000 acres to the 250,000 acres currently preserved.  This will substantially increase the habitat available to the 2nd largest jaguar population outside the Amazon, giving the Calakmul jaguars a better chance at survival.  As a long term plan, the agreements provide an investment for the communities’ own sustainable economic development and contribute to the growth of the Calakmul area as a future eco-tourism destination.

The Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, classified as part of the Meso-American biodiversity hotspot and a UNESCO World Heritage site, is also home to the Calakmul ruins, considered to be one of the most important classical Mayan cities ever discovered.  In addition to jaguars, more than 90 mammal species live in the reserve, including the ocelot, howler and spider monkeys,margay, hawk eagle, crocodiles and over 350 species of migratory birds - many of them endangered.

Although the entire 1.8 million acre Calakmul rainforest has been officially designated a reserve, only the core, government-owned portion was originally given strict protection status.  The remaining land around the core, called the buffer zone, has remained threatened by clear cutting, poaching and development pressure and has been FOC’s focus for their successful conservation efforts.

Together with award winning Mexican wildlife biologist Dr. Gerardo Ceballos, San Francisco area husband-wife pair David Leventhal and Sandra Kahn founded FOC in 2001. Their partnership to protect the reserve’s biological treasures has grown to include many concerned public donors and alliances with like-minded groups including Conservation International, Global Heritage Fund and D&R Greenway Land Trust of New Jersey.
 
About Friends of Calakmul
Friends of Calakmul (FOC) is a San Mateo, Calif. based conservation organization working to preserve critical jaguar habitat in the Calakmul rainforest of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.   Supported by concerned scientists, environmentally conscious individuals and an alliance of US organizations, FOC partners with indigenous communities to protect Calakmul’s unique environmental heritage for future generations.  For more information, please visit: www.calakmul.org.

For regional maps, additional statistics, and to schedule interviews, please contact Nathan Beers, (415) 777-1170 x 305, Nathan@StrausCom.com.