During the days from November 7 to 11th of 2016, the Fourth Trinational Selva Maya Guardians Exchange was held at El Muelle Hotel, El Remate, Petén, Guatemala. Since 2013 this meeting is an annual event; the first event took place in Santa Elena, Petén, Guatemala. On 2014 it was in Orange Walk, Belize. In each one of these events, presentations about handling & management of the different natural protected areas that form the Selva Maya , have been made, as well as exchanges of experiences and training on various topics such as the integrated management of fire and the role of park rangers on behalf of the forest.
51 people, both technical staff (administrators of natural protected areas) as park rangers from Mexico, Belize and Guatemala, attended the recent edition of the event. As its name says, this activity allowed the exchange of experiences. It also promoted the acquisition of new knowledge through training on the use of maps, GPS (Global Position System) equipment, trap cameras, photo cameras and guides for the identification of birds; as well as the identification and recognition of footprints and excreta.
One of the reflections they had was about the impact of these meetings and how to ensure their repetition. In this regard, it was considered to transfer the training and knowledge acquired to the natural protected area management entities in each country. At the end of the exchange, some cooperation agreements were reached between the administrators and park rangers of the cross-border protected areas of the three countries, in order to improve communication and coordination.
