Posted January 30, 2025
by Nicholas Hellmuth
There are thousands of pine trees in southern Peten and millions in Belize. There are millions more pine trees in the Highlands of Guatemala—but in the north half of Peten, in the Reserva de la Biosfera Maya (RBM) pine trees rarely exist—except for one tiny “island” of pine trees near Parque Nacional Tikal (PANAT).
The FLAAR Reports on El Pinal island of pine trees in the RBM, one in English, the other in Spanish) also includes a nice organization of the plants that ethnobotanist Cyrus Lundel documented there many decades ago.
Our reports show lots of tasiste palm trees in the pine forest—so the pine needles on the ground do not stop the tasiste. We use a registered drone for aerial photos never before published of this remarkable ecosystem. This field trip is part of our ongoing research in cooperation and coordination with CONAP and with the administrators of each national park.
|
Aerial photos, map, panorama photos from the ground, with text in English. |
The complete report, with captions and introduction in Spanish. |
