Lacandon Jungle - Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve

Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve

The Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve was established in 1978 as Mexico’s first biosphere reserve. This reserve covers part of the Lacandon Jungle, covering 331,200 hectares, only one fifth of the original rainforest in Chiapas. In 1992 the 61,874-hectare Lacantun Reserve, which includes the Classic Maya archeological sites of Yaxchilan and Bonampak, was added to the original biosphere reserve.

It was financed in 1994 by the World Bank’s Global Environmental Fund. It is recognized by the UN Environment Program for its global biological and cultural significance. Its management plan endeavors to strike a balance between habitat conservation and the demand for research into its vast genetic resources.

There is a significant difference in vegetation between the reserve areas and the jungle outside of it. However, areas of the Reserve have been damaged as it is carved in disconnected patches. In many areas, tapirs, howler monkeys and parrots are already gone. Reserve managers say even small-scale development within the conservation area is a threat, since its natural balance has been altered over the centuries. According to Conservation International, there are 140 peasant settler communities in the Biosphere Reserve and 225 including those in other protected areas in the Lacandon. All but thirty two of these have a certain amount of legal protection as they were registered as ejidos before the Reserve was created. Since the Reserve was created, the thirty two have been in limbo, which some efforts by the government to force them to move with promises of other lands in Chiapas. However, these farmers have resisted with support of the EZLN. EZLN believes the evictions are a pretense to dislodge them from their base of support and the turn over the Lacandon to “corporate exploitation” as the area is still rich in timber with oil, hydro electric and even genetic resources.