Time-Series Land Cover/Land Use Change and Socio-Economic Driving Forces in the Northern Peten Region, Guatemala

The Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) in Northern Guatemala represents the largest contiguous tract of protected tropical forest remaining in Central America. Recently, the MBR has become more accessible as new roads have been constructed by petroleum companies and logging interests. Peasant farmers have followed the roads to establish maize-based agricultural plots. New settlements have become established in the buffer zone attracting more landless farmers to the area. This report documents the activities of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala project approximately one-half way through the first funding period. The objective of the first 18 months is to develop a time series land cover/land use change (LCLUC) data base, and initiate socio-cultural household and vegetation surveys to understand trends in LCLU conversion related to human driving forces in the region.