A landscape of global ecological and cultural value
The Selva Maya rainforest network, Mesoamerica’s largest expanse of rainforests after the Amazon, spans an incredible 38 million acres across Belize, northern Guatemala, and southeastern Mexico. Within this network of forests lies the Belize Maya Forest, a tropical ecosystem teeming with biodiversity and diverse landscapes and layered with cultural significance. The Belize Maya Forest is a haven for vulnerable and endangered species like the Baird’s tapir, white-lipped peccary, and Yucatán black howler monkey. The forest is also home to Central America’s largest jaguar population, migrating between Belize, Mexico, and Guatemala.
The Belize Maya Forest is more than a biodiversity hotspot—it’s a treasure trove of Mesoamerican cultural heritage, including ancient Mayan archaeological sites like the water temple and sacred pools of Cara Blanca. These connections to the past remind us of the forest’s value not only as a haven for wildlife but also as a legacy for future generations.
Challenges threatening the Belize Maya Forest
Despite its immense ecological and cultural importance, the Belize Maya Forest is under siege. In 2021, the Nature Conservancy and partners from multiple sectors purchased a 236,000-acre portion of the Selva Maya, creating the Belize Maya Forest Trust (BMFT) to steward and protect this vital landscape. Soon after its creation, the BMFT (a local non-governmental organization) formed a cohort of organizations, community leaders, businesses, and government entities to save the vital landscape from industrial agriculture and land clearing. Despite this landmark achievement, the forest continues to face immense threats.
Illegal hunting threatens the survival of critical species, while wildfires caused by human activities, increasingly hot temperatures, and dry conditions exacerbated by climate change destroy vital habitats. The 2024 wildfire season was one of the most severe on record, with over 1,400 acres of forest scorched during the 2023-2024 dry season. The consequences have been devastating: critical habitats destroyed, wildlife displaced, and communities facing health and economic hardships.
The Belize Maya Forest Trust partners with Rare
To combat these threats, the Belize Maya Forest Trust has joined forces with Rare, leveraging behavioral science to address the root causes of destructive wildfires. BMFT promotes biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and long-term stewardship, while Rare brings its expertise in behavior-centered design (BCD) to inspire change at the community level. BMFT also supports local rangers, who play a crucial role in patrolling the forest, preventing illegal hunting, monitoring wildlife, and combatting fires.
Rare is partnering with the Belize Maya Forest Trust to co-design behavior change strategies to improve fire management in stakeholder communities in the Belize Maya Forest landscape. This process will involve working with farmers in the Spanish Lookout and Valley of Peace communities to understand motivations and barriers to adopting fire safety measures and alternative practices to slash and burn agriculture. In May 2024, Rare hosted a behavior-centered design (BCD) workshop with BMFT and landscape stakeholders. Participants fostered collaboration and strengthened partnerships to implement collective actions to mitigate wildfires and destructive behaviors.
Now in the design phase, Rare and BMFT are gathering insights through interviews and surveys with farmers in Spanish Lookout and Valley of Peace communities. By aligning behavior change strategies with the expertise of local stakeholders, this partnership is paving the way for innovative solutions to protect the forest and the communities that depend on it.
A Call to Action
The Belize Maya Forest represents a vital opportunity to unite biodiversity conservation, community empowerment, and behavioral science in the fight against climate change. The work underway is a testament to what can be achieved through collaboration and a shared commitment to preserving our planet’s natural heritage.
The stakes are high, but with the dedication of local communities, partners like BMFT, and Rare’s behavioral science approach, we can safeguard this irreplaceable ecosystem for generations to come.