Guatemalan Caribbean Slope (20367)
Guatemala, Central America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1a, B1
Year of last assessment: 2007
National site name: Caribe de Guatemala
Central coordinates: Latitude: 15.7013, Longitude: -88.8550
System: marine, terrestrial
Elevation (m): 0 to 1300
Area of KBA (km2): 4640.50219
Protected area coverage (%): 43.86
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: Guatemalan Caribbean Slope includes lowland and lower montane habitats, including Lake Izabal and the delta of the Polochic river. The IBA ranges in elevation from sea level to 1300 m, and is bordered by Belize in the north and Honduras in the south.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: Guatemalan Caribbean Slope is important for biome-restricted species of the Gulf Caribbean Slope (17 species recorded). Four globally threatened species occur regularly in the IBA. The site supports the only breeding population of Yellow-headed Parrot (Amazona oratrix) in Guatemala (Eisermann 2003). Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra) has been recorded in the cloud forests near the Honduran border (Cerezo & Ramírez 2003, Eisermann et al. 2006), and Keel-billed Motmot (Electron carinatum) has been recorded at several sites (Eisermann 2005, Eisermann & Avendaño 2007). Cerulean Warbler (Dendroica cerulea) occurs regularly during migration (Cerezo et al. 2005, Welton et al. 2007).
Other site values: State (National Parks and other protected areas), communal, and private.
Habitats
Summary of habitats in KBA: About 41% of this IBA is covered by humid evergreen broadleaf forests, including small patches of mangroves. Vegetated wetlands, lakes and lagoons, rivers, and beach habitat cover 20%. About 37% of the IBA is used for agriculture (mainly cattle farming, secondary growth scrub, banana and oil palm plantations) (MAGA 2006).
Land use: agriculture (15%) | fisheries/aquaculture (17%) | forestry | hunting | military | nature conservation and research (35%) | not utilised | rangeland/pastureland (22%) | tourism/recreation | urban/industrial/transport (1%) | water management
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Marine Neritic | 5 | |
| Forest | 41 | |
| Marine Intertidal | 5 | |
| Marine Coastal/Supratidal | 10 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 12 | |
| Grassland | 15 | |
| Shrubland | 12 |
Threats
Summary of threats to biodiversity at KBA: Natural habitat and bird populations are threatened by an advancing agricultural border, forest fires, illegal logging and hunting, overharvest of fish, and pollution of wetlands (ParksWatch 2003, Eisermann 2006). Management deficiencies in the protected areas allow human intervention.
Additional information
References: Cerezo, A. & M. Ramírez. 2002. Evaluación de las comunidades de aves de dos zonas núcleo propuestas para el Area de Protección Especial Sierra Santa Cruz. Informe técnico. Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación, Guatemala. (Unpublished report) Cerezo, A. & M. Ramírez. 2003. Evaluación de la avifauna de dos zonas núcleo propuestas para el área de protección especial Sierra Caral. Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación, Guatemala. (Unpublished report) Cerezo, A., M. Ramírez & H. Enríquez. 2005. Aves de Cerro San Gil, listado de campo. Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación, Guatemala. CONAP. 2007. Lista de áreas protegidas inscritas en el SIGAP. Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP), Guatemala. (Database accessed in June 2007) Eisermann, K. 2001a. Caracterización de la avifauna del Área de Protección Especial Punta de Manabique, Izabal, Guatemala. Fundación Mario Dary, Guatemala. Eisermann, K. 2003. Status and conservation of the Yellow-headed Parrot Amazona oratrix 'guatemalensis' on the Atlantic coast of Guatemala. Bird Conservation International 13: 359-364. Eisermann, K. 2005. Noteworthy bird observations in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 125: 3-11. Eisermann, K. 2006. Evaluation of waterbird populations and their conservation in Guatemala. Final report. Sociedad Guatemalteca de Ornitología, Guatemala. Report to BirdLife International. Online at: www.avesdeguatemala.org/avesacuaticas.htm Eisermann, K., N. Herrera & O. Komar. 2006. Highland Guan (Penelopina nigra). Pp. 90-95. In D. M. Brooks (Ed.) Conserving Cracids: the most threatened family of birds in the Americas. Miscellaneous Publications of the Houston Museum of Natural Science 6. Eisermann, K. & C. Avendaño. 2007. Lista comentada de las aves de Guatemala - Annotated checklist of the birds of Guatemala. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. MAGA. 2006. Mapa de cobertura vegetal y uso de la tierra a escala 1:50,000 de la República de Guatemala, Año 2003 (Incluye 5 cultivos perennes actualizados al año 2005). Memoria técnica y descripción de resultados. Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Alimentación –MAGA– / Unidad de Planificación Geográfica y Gestión de Riesgo –UPGGR–, Guatemala Ciudad, Guatemala. ParksWatch. 2003. Park profile–Guatemala: Chocón Machacas Protected Biotope. ParksWatch Guatemala. Online at: www.parkswatch.org Pérez, E. S. 1998. Informe final del estudio técnico del área de protección especial Sierra Santa Cruz. Grupo aves. Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza, Guatemala. (unpublished report) Pérez Consuegra, S. G., P. H. Kihn, J. E. Morales, N. A. Castillo, F. Ramírez, E. B. Cano, R. A. García, J. E. Ordóñez, M. E. Flores, A. L. Higueros, M. E. Acevedo, C. R. Vásquez, C. L. Burgos, H. H. Enríquez & H. K. Piérola. 2001. Caracterización ecológica de los biotopos Chocón Machacas, Izabal y Cerro Cahuí, Petén. Informe final. Centro de Estudios Conservacionistas. Programa Universitario de Investigación en Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, Dirección General de Investigación. Univ. San Carlos, Guatemala. (unpublished report) Rodríguez, G. & A. Cerezo. 2001. Evaluación de las comunidades de aves y murciélagos en tres zonas núcleo propuestas para el Área de Protección Especial Río Sarstún. Informe final. Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación, Guatemala. (unpublished report) Welton, M. J., D. L. Anderson, G. Colorado, E. S. Pérez & T. Beachy 2007. Migration habitat and stopover ecology of Cerulean Warblers and other Nearctic-Neotropical migrant songbirds in Northern Central America: Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico 2007. (Unpublished report)
Contributors: Workshops to identify IBAs were hosted by the Museum of Natural History Jorge Ibarra, in Guatemala City in June 2006, and by Wildlife Conservation Society - Guatemala in Peten in July 2006. Input of unpublished data and suggestions for the delimitation of the IBA were provided during these workshop by representatives of Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP), ProPeten, Wildlife Conservation Society - Guatemala, Tikal National Park, Asociación de Rescate y Conservación de Animales Silvestres (ARCAS), Fundación Defensores de la Naturaleza, Fundación para el Ecodesarrollo y la Conservación (FUNDAECO), Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Biotopo del Quetzal, and Centro de Acción Legal – Ambiental y Social de Guatemala (CALAS). This first assessment of IBAs in Guatemala was conducted by Sociedad Guatemalteca de Ornitología and BirdLife International in the Americas.