Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity

In addition to biological diversi- ty, a feature that defines Guatemala as a mega-diverse country is its remarkable cul- tural wealth, being globally one of the countries with the largest number of linguistic commu- nities per unit area [ ] 115 First Reserve for Amphibian Conservation in Guatemala In 2011, the document was signed for the creation of a New Ecological Reserve for the Conservation of the Forest and the Endemic Amphibians of the Sierra Caral, in the Cordillera del Merendón (Department of Izabal, Guatemala). This reserve covers a total area of 2,299.42ha, which will be dedicated for the conservation of nature. This new Reserve expanded and strengthened the Guatemalan System of Protected Areas, and will contrib- ute to the protection of the Natural Heritage of Guatemala and the world. The Reserve conserves the largest contiguous forest of the Municipality of Morales, Izabal, thus contributing to a better future for the inhabitants of that locality. In this Sierra, the ecosystems are Very Humid Trop- ical Forest at elevations lower than 900 meters above sea level and very Sub-Tropical Warm Humid Forest from 900 to 1,221 meters above sea level. Sierra Caral is fundamental for the Caribbean Region of Guatemala, due to its water production and the presence of large areas of forest. Forests protect local communities from landslides, in a context of global climate change. The amphibian fauna of Sierra Caral is composed of 9 salamanders, 2 caecilians and 24 frogs and toads. This makes a total of 35 species of amphibians and is equivalent to 22 per cent of the total species of this group reported for the country, refugees in just 0.25 of the national territory. In this Sierra there is the greatest number of threatened amphibians in Guatemala with a total of 12 spe- cies included in the IUCN red list. Five species of critically endangered amphibians are reported: Nototriton brodiei, Cryptotriton wakei, Agalych- nis moreletii, Duellmanohyla soralia, Ptychohyla hypomykter. There are also five threatened amphibian spe- cies: Bolitoglossa odonnelli, dunni, Craugastor charadra, sabrinus, Bro- meliohyla bromeliace and two species of vulgar amphibians, Craugastor xucanebi and Plectrohyla matudai. 35 per cent of the amphibian species that live in Sierra Caral are within some category of threat of extinction according to the 2013 IUCN Red List. It is particularly important to note that, within this list, five endemic species are reported for Guatemala and the region border with Hondu- ras: Cryptotriton wakei, Nototriton brodiei, Craugastor nefrens, Craugas- tor xucanebi, Duellmanohyla soralia. Cricket Guatemala G uatemala has the richest, most unique and most lively biodiversity in Mesoamerica, which hosts between 7 and 10 per cent of the known forms of life on the planet and ranks second in the regions with the greatest diversity of species and endemism. With respect to fauna, 706 birds, 142 amphibians, 244 mammals and 245 reptiles are reported in Guatemala; 10,317 species of flora constituted by 20 of algae, 376 of fungi, 168 of lichens, 195 of hepatics, 782 of ferns, 527 of mosses, 58 of conifers, 2,352 of monocotyledons and 5,839 of dicotyledons. In addition, there are 1,561 aquatic species. PAL1970 on flickr