Master

Pueblos Indígenas y Ecosistemas Naturales
en Centroamérica y el Sur de México

Cabo Catoche

Canc´un M´erida

Isla Mujeres

Indigenous Peoples and Natural Ecosystems
in Central America and Southern Mexico

La Deforestación / Deforestation

1950

Chich´en Itz´a

E

Yukateko
Uxmal

Y U C A T A N
, a n

Isla Cozumel Tulum

Campeche

P e

n

í

n

s

u

la

d

e

Y u

c

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t

T

Gol fo de Me xic o ´ Gul f of Me xic o
BILL THRELKELD

Center for the Support of

Niñas Kunas y sus madres, Madungandi, Panamá Kuna girls and their mothers, Madungandi, Panama

Laguna de T´erminos

C

O

Native Lands

CAMPECHE

QUINTANA ROO

Chetumal

Chontal

Banco Chinchorro

T A B A S C O
Villahermosa

I

Chol Yucatec/Itza'Calakmul

he narrow strip of land stretching from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico down through Panama’s Darién Gap connects North and South America, the two largest terrestrial ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere. Although relatively small in surface area— some 700,000 km2, or roughly the size of Texas—it contains a singular variety of landforms, vegetation and animal life, andclimate. Within short distances one finds a jumble of volcanic mountain chains, temperate inland plateaus and fertile valleys, pine savannahs, lush tropical forests, porous limestone plains, and, along its two lengthy and irregular coastlines, mangrove-fringed lagoons and estuaries, barrier beaches, and coral reefs. Since the region became a land bridge approximately 3.5 million years ago, therehas been extensive intermingling of fauna such as armadillos, peccaries, and numerous bird species from the two very different continents. Cultural diversity parallels the biophysical variety, as indigenous peoples make up as much as 23 percent of the total population. At present, the natural environment of Central America and southern Mexico is in crisis and the indigenous peoples, who live in andmanage many of the last remaining intact ecosystems, are struggling to survive in increasingly difficult circumstances. Since biological and cultural systems are closely linked, the ecological health of the region depends overwhelmingly on the preservation of diversity in all its forms.

X
Multi´etnico

Orange Walk

Ambergris Cay

E
El Mirador Palenque

Istmo
NORTEAMERICA

MQ'eqchi' Tzeltal Q'eqchi'
Uaxact´un Tikal Xunantunich

BELIZE
Belize City

de
ic o ´ t la n t ´ O ce a n o A O c e a n Atlantic

Zoque
Presa Nezahualc´oyotl

Kekchi & Mopan

Turneffe Islands

3 0°N

NORTH AMERICA

Tehuantepec

Belmopan
San Ignacio

Lighthouse Reef

Tzotzil
Tuxtla Guti´errez San Crist´obal de las Casas
ma cin Lakandon ta

Itza'
U su

in s

ECUAD O REQUA T O R

O c´ eano Pacífico Pacific O cean

30°S

A SUDAMERIC SO U T H AMERICA

C H I A P A S
Tojolabal
S i e
r
Presa de la Angostura

La S el v a La c a n d o n a
Multi´etnico

E L

 P E T E N
ya Ma

M

o

u

n

Centroamerica ´ ´ 0° y el Sur de Mexico

Central America and Southern Mexico

Lago Pet´en Itz´a

Tayasal

Yucatec/Itza'
ta

Dangriga

FloresQ'eqchi'

Garifuna Mopan Garifuna & Mopan Garifuna Kekchi & Mopan
Golfo de Honduras Puerto Cort´es

Glover Reef

La Barrera Coralina de Belice, que abarca un área de 22.800 km2, es la más grande del hemisferio occidental y la segunda más grande en el mundo. Junto con tres atolones de alta mar, el arrecife y sus lagunas asociadas, pastos marinos e islas manglares proporcionan un hábitatimportantísimo para los peces y las especies en peligro como las tortugas, manatíes y el cocodrilo Americano (Crocodylus acutus). Los conservacionistas recién han enfocado su atención a las crecientes presiones naturales o causadas por los humanos a este vital ecosistema.

The Belize Barrier Reef, covering an area of 22,800 km2, is the largest in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest in...