Land rights help fight fires in Guatemala nature reserve: study

Thu Jun 15, 2017 | 12:13pm EDT


By Chris Arsenault


RIO DE JANEIRO (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Residents of northern Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve, an area of lush jungle and historical ruins, are far better at protecting the forest from fires when they have formal land rights, researchers said on Thursday.

The 2.1 million-hectare nature reserve in northern Guatemala is under threat from forest fires, drug traffickers and cattle barons, researchers said in a study.

Using satellite images, researchers analyzed the severity of this year's forest fires on reserve land, comparing areas of the park where local communities have formal land rights with areas where residents lack them.

Climate change is leading to an increase in the frequency and severity of forest fires in much of the world, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists, a U.S.-based advocacy group.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-latam-environment-landrights-idUSKBN196298




Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve







More images of this area:

https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0LEV1JHQkNZpUUABcdXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzZnNnMjV0BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDVUlDMV8xBHNlYwNwaXZz?p=Guatemala%27s+Maya+Biosphere+Reserve&fr2=piv-web&fr=yfp-t#id=165&iurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi.livescience.com%2Fimages%2Fi%2F000%2F074%2F444%2Fi02%2Fmacaws_from_above_CGP3628.jpg%3F1425627382&action=close