Parque Nacional Laguna del Tigre (PNLT)

image of Map of Waka'

Laguna del Tigre National Park is a tropical forest in crisis. The story of the park began in 1986 when NASA scientist Tom Sever revealed a satellite photo of the Guatemala – Mexico frontier that clearly delineated the political border in forest cover. The verdant green of the Guatemalan forest stood in stark contrast to the denuded plains of Mexico’s states of Chiapas, and Tabasco1. This stark illustration prompted then Guatemalan President Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo to action, pressing for the development of the multinational Maya Biosphere Reserve, 2.1 million hectares of tropical forest stretching from Mexico, through Guatemala, and into Belize. In 1990 President Cerezo officially designated the Laguna del Tigre region of the Biosphere a national park, Guatemala’s largest at more than 300,000, hectares.

PNLT is the site of critical wildlife habitat, supporting endangered species including the jaguar, the scarlet macaw, and Baird’s tapir. The jungle hums with the sounds of birds, howler and spider monkeys. Thousands of species of plants, mammals, reptiles, rodents, and birds make the tropical forest of Laguna del Tigre their home. The park is also home to a RAMSAR World Heritage wetland, one of the most important habitats of its kind.

image of Tropical Forest at El Peru Waka

Heritage Conservation and Tourism

Waka’ has more than forty carved stone stelae and altars. The texts and images on these monuments were recorded in the seventies and eighties by Ian Graham of Harvard. When we first arrived at Waka’, the monuments were in scattered fragments, the result of a combination of modern looting and ancient desecration. With a team of Guatemalan monument restoration and replication specialists, we have reassembled the great majority of stelae on the plazas and built new thatched roof huts over them. A number of these monuments have been replicated, to be erected next to their originals. Stela 16, one of only two known portraits of Siyaj K’ak’. The stelae of the kings and queens of Waka’ offer an immediate attraction for tourists to come to the site.

During the first three field seasons (2003-2005) the Waka’ project used master masons from the town of Dolores and their local apprentices from the four communities to consolidate a huge loot hole in the largest pyramid in the western part of the site, and repair loot damage to the structure summit. In 2006 we completed stabilization of the building and discover a royal tomb. The nine other major excavation operations initiated at the site, have exposed and define monumental and elite residential architecture in anticipation of beginning major consolidation. These include a late temple on the mountainous Temple Acropolis in the eastern sector of the site, parts of the royal palace complex, the ballcourt, and the southeastern acropolis. Most tourists who come to Maya sites expect to see completely cleared and consolidated monumental architecture. Our goal is to selectively expose sections of such buildings, for study and consolidation, but to leave large parts of the buildings with the mature rain forest intact on top. This strategy will also allow us to continue scientific work on the structures, furthering our understanding of the ancient use and history of these places.

image of Palapa at El Peru Waka'In contrast with some consolidation programs, where the forest cover has been completely removed and the buildings completely cleared and consolidated to give an impression of the city’s original state, we seek to give visitors an experience of an ancient place in the context of its forest surroundings. In this way it is more reminiscent of what early explorers might have witnessed in early visits to Maya ruins. The advantage of such a strategy is that it leaves much of the buildings under stable existing ground cover, minimizes the serious challenges of long-term maintenance of exposed masonry, and engages visitors in the beauty of the tropical forest. The goal of Waka’ as a tourist venue is to build a commitment on the part of visitors who might have only a passing interest in the forest to support conservation and preservation of this habitat.
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image of Security Forces at Waka'

Threats

Despite the establishment of protection, Laguna del Tigre, the westernmost portion of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, has faced near constant pressure, besieged on all sides by human expansion. Roads, initially established for legal logging and oil prospecting, provide access further into the park, and facilitate illicit activities, including smuggling, poaching, and looting of ancient heritage sites.

Hope Remains

As great as the threats may seem, hope remains for PNLT. When our research program began in 2003, we met the dedicated and overworked government and non-government champions of the park and joined forces with them. The archaeological research base facility now serves as a forward outpost for conservation and security efforts in the park, and the additional attention gained from archaeological discovery has helped to renew enthusiasm to rescue the pristine southeastern portion of the reserve.
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Conservation News

image of Waka' Site Map
January 31, 2008

Conservation International - “Providing Hope for Laguna del Tigre”
“A new management plan is providing a blueprint to not only halt but also reverse the destruction of Laguna del Tigre, Guatemala's largest national park and one of the most critical ecosystems in the Mesoamerica Hotspot.”
   » Read the full story

Other Organizations at Laguna Del Tigre

  • CONAP
  • IDAEH
  • Conservation International
  • Wildlife Conservation Society
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1Nations, James D. The Maya Tropical Forest. 2006, University of Texas Press. P. 194.