Cuatro Balam

Cuatro Balam is an initiative by the government of Guatemala to dramatically increase tourism in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, focusing on the region's numerous archeological sites. The Reserve is a protected area of 21,602 km2 in Guatemala's northernmost Petén Department. The Reserve contains national parks and wildlife preserves, and "multiple use" zones where limited human settlement and activity are permitted. The Cuatro Balam plan is being promoted as a means of conserving Guatemala's biodiversity and archaeological heritage, while fostering regional economic development. The Guatemalan government says the plan will cover about 22,500 km2, an area slightly larger than the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The plan is touted as the largest archaeological tourism project in Latin America. Archaeological sites in the Reserve include Tikal, Guatemala’s most famous Maya city, which attracts 120,000 to 180,000 visitors per year, and El Mirador, a lesser-known but larger Maya city dating from the preclassic period. El Mirador is located in the remote, dense jungle about 7 km south of the Mexican border. A government press release lists Tikal, El Mirador, Piedras Negras, and Uaxactún as the Maya sites that will anchor tourism development. Tens of other sites are also being excavated in the region. B'alam is a word for "jaguar" in many Mayan languages, and cuatro is Spanish for "four";

NatureReserve data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).