Officials are struggling to keep up with an increasing wave of deforestation in one of Guatemala’s largest protected areas, where squatters are clearing the rainforest to make room for settlements, roads, cattle ranching and airstrips for drug planes. Sierra del Lacandón National Park, which sits on the Mexican border, has lost thousands of hectares of […]
FLORES One of Guatemala’s most under-threat protected areas may face future oil and gas development, as lawmakers consider whether to expand extractive activities in the region and the construction of additional pipelines. A bill in Guatemala’s congress would not only renew a contract for the current oil and gas pipeline that already operates in […]
In early April the mutilated body of a jaguar was discovered in Mexico's Yaxchilán Natural Monument.Researchers investigating the death quickly concluded that the animal, which had been tracked in neighboring Guatemala since 2015, had crossed the border and fallen prey to wildlife traffickers, who may have taken its head for sale on the black market.
The planetwide cocaine supply chain its production, trafficking and consumption causes deforestation and pollution, and impacts biodiversity, as do other criminal activities associated with illegal drugs.
Mongabay seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics,and finance on conservation and development.