Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Biosphere reserve in Campeche, Mexico

Calakmul Biosphere Reserve is a large protected area in southern Mexico containing one of the largest tropical forests in the Western Hemisphere. The forest features dense vegetation with multiple layers where trees, shrubs, and plants grow closely together.

Mexico's government established this natural protected area in 1989 to preserve the rainforests of the Yucatan Peninsula. Since then it has become one of the country's most important sites for forest conservation.

The ancient Maya people shaped this forest for centuries through their settlements, leaving behind stone structures and ceremonial sites scattered throughout the vegetation. These remains show how deeply the civilization was connected to the rainforest environment.

The reserve lies between 260 and 385 metres above sea level on flat, permeable limestone where water drains quickly; the few permanent pools, called aguadas, are rare and ecologically valuable. Rain falls mainly around 750 mm a year, and the terrain floods temporarily in the karst hollows known as akalché. Carry your own drinking water, since supplies near villages are under pressure from tourism.

The reserve shelters five of Mexico's six native large cats: jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay and jaguarundi. Its jaguar population is among the largest in Central America. The reserve also counts 86 mammal species, 18 of them listed in Mexico's official registry of threatened or protected wildlife.