Current view: Text account
Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
Chiquibul is located in the Atlantic slope lowlands, bordered in the east by Belize.
Chiquibul supports a population of the threatened Keel-billed Motmot (
Electron carinatum) (J. Madrid, pers. comm.). Recent ornithological information is limited to an ecological rapid assessment (AHT 2000) and some additional species records (Vargas et al. 2006, Eisermann & Avendaño 2007). The site is expected to be important for a large number of species restricted to the Gulf Caribbean Slope; because of data deficiency the site does currently not apply under under the criterion of importance for biome-restricted species.
Broadleaf and pine forests cover 52% of the IBA. About 47% of the IBA are used for agriculture: 6% corn fields, 17% cattle farming, 24% secondary growth scrub (MAGA 2006).
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Protected areas in this IBA lack appropriate management and surveillance. Natural habitat is threatened by an advancing agricultural border and forest fires.
This IBA is entirely legally protected as a biosphere reserve and its buffer zone (CONAP 2007). The area is threatened by management deficiencies.
Wildlife Conservation Society - Guatemala hosted a workshop to identify IBAs in Peten in July 2006. Input of unpublished data and suggestions for the delimitation of the IBA was provided during this workshop by representatives of Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) - Peten, ProPeten, Wildlife Conservation Society - Guatemala, and Tikal National Park. This first assessment of IBAs in Guatemala was conducted by Sociedad Guatemalteca de Ornitología and BirdLife International in the Americas.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Chiquibul (Guatemala). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/chiquibul-iba-guatemala on 23/12/2024.
