In 1990, Guatemala launched an ambitious mahogany restoration program in Petén to combat deforestation. Years later, it produced Central America's largest natural forest and transformed the province into a global conservation model

In 1990, Guatemala launched a bold conservation strategy that few expected would become one of the world's most respected examples of sustainable forest management. Faced with growing deforestation in the country's northern Petén region, officials created a long-term restoration and protection plan centered on the Maya Biosphere Reserve.

More than three decades later, much of the forest remains intact, community-managed forestry continues to support local livelihoods, and the region has become a model studied by conservation experts around the world. At a time when countries are searching for practical ways to slow forest loss and protect biodiversity, Guatemala's experience offers a rare example of how conservation and responsible economic activity can work together.