Maya Mountains and southern reserves (20761)
Belize, Central America
Site overview
KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1a, A1b, A1d, B1
Year of last assessment: 2007
National site name: Maya Mountains and southern reserves
Central coordinates: Latitude: 16.7775, Longitude: -88.7685
System: terrestrial
Elevation (m): 5 to 1000
Area of KBA (km2): 6438.64519
Protected area coverage (%): 87.11
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes
Site details
Site description: This IBA encompasses various large terrestrial protected areas in Belize. It is comprised of the Sibun, Vaca, Chiquibul, Maya Mountain, Sittee River, Columbia River, Manatee, Deep River and Mountain Pine ridge Forest Reserves. It includes the following 7 national parks: Five Blues Lake, St. Herman’s and Blue Hole, Billy Barquedeer, Nojkaaxmeen Eligio Panti, Mayflower Bocawina and Payne’s Creek. Three Archaeological Reserves, Barton Creek, Caves Branch and Caracol, are included. Additional protected areas within this IBA include the Bladen Nature Reserve, Victoria Peak and Thousand Foot Falls Natural Monuments and the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. There are also three private reserves within this IBA: Golden Stream, Block 127 and Runaway Creek.
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: This 645,856 ha area has 411 recorded species of which 310 are residents, 295 are known or thought to breed in the area, 116 are species not known to nest in the area and 101 that are considered migrants. These include species that meet the A1, A2, A3, A4i trigger criteria.
Delineation rationale: Decimal Degrees X=-88.76842 Y=16.77755 Degrees and minutes 88°46.1052' 16°46.653'
Habitats
| IUCN Habitat | Coverage % | Habitat detail |
|---|---|---|
| Forest | 88 | |
| Artificial - Terrestrial | 2 | |
| Wetlands(Inland) | 1 | |
| Shrubland | 9 |