Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
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Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary
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 Waterfall on a tributary of South Stann Creek , Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize |
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| location | Stann Creek District , Belize | |
| surface | 400 km² | |
| WDPA ID | 10579 | |
| Geographical location | 16 ° 43 ' N , 88 ° 40' W | |
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| Setup date | 1986 | |
The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Stann Creek District in south-central Belize . It was set up to protect the forests, the fauna and the water reserves in an area of approx. 400 km² in the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains .
The sanctuary was established in 1986 as the first sanctuary to protect the jaguar ( Panthera onca ) and is considered the leading site for jaguar conservation worldwide.
Surname
The name "Cockscomb" was derived from the appearance of the Cockscomb Mountain Ridge , which from a distance is reminiscent of a cockscomb . The mountain range lies on the northern edge of the reserve and is clearly visible from the coastal plain on the Caribbean Sea .
geography
The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary is made up of two neighboring river basins. The western basin is drained from the Swasey Branch , one of the main tributaries of the Monkey River . The eastern basin arises from the upper catchment area of South Stann Creek . Due to the denser forests and more difficult accessibility, the western basin is still relatively unexplored in terms of biodiversity , Mayan ruins and other details.
The area of the reserve is roughly diamond-shaped and extends approx. 36 km from east to west and approx. 14 km from north to south. The height differences range from 50 m above sea level in the low-lying regions of South Stann Creek to 1160 m at the summit of Victoria Peak .
The western basin is bounded by the ridge of the Maya Mountains in the west, Cockscomb Mountains in the north, a prominent branch of the Maya Mountains in the south (with heights up to 1000 m) and a lower ridge in the east, which separates the area from the eastern basin. The Swasey leaves the basin through a deep canyon that is up to 300 m deep in the ridges of the Maya Mountains ( ⊙ ). The eastern basin is also bordered to the north by the eponymous Cockscomb Ridge. To the west, the low mountain ridge forms the boundary to the western basin from north to south, and the Cabbage Haul Ridge to the east and Stann Creek Ridge to the south . The South Stann Creek leaves the eastern basin to the south in a strongly meandering course on an incline that was easy to navigate by the British explorers in the 1880s.
There is a simple system of paths for visitors and researchers .
Natural history
The Maya Mountains and their foothills are among the oldest superficial rock formations in Central America ; the Paleozoic sediments were about 200 mio. Years ago. These events took place during the Pennsylvania and Early Permian ages . The main formations in the area consist of quartzite and sandstone .
flora
The dominant plant communities and habitats are Belize pine forests , Elfenwald , Petén-Veracruz Rainforest , Valley forests and flood plains - thickets .
The deciduous forests of the Petén Veracruz rainforests cover the gentle to steep mountain slopes and in some areas also protected mountain valleys. While much of these forests are secondary forests created by Mayan agriculture or modern logging, some of the steeper slopes still have the characteristics of primary forest . Dominant tree species are American mahogany ( Swietenia macrophylla ) and West Indian cedar ( Cedrela odorata ), which, however, have been severely felled since the beginning of the 20th century.
Waters
Fast flowing, clear mountain streams flow into the valleys of the two basins, where the water quality is more turbid .
The gallery forests usually stretch along the rivers up to steep mountain ranges and there are particularly lush deciduous forests along the fast-flowing mountain streams, but also along the meandering rivers in the valley meadows. Particularly interesting plant communities thrive along the stony river beds of the mountain streams, which are characterized by rapids, waterfalls and deep stilling basins. The density of the vegetation and the frequent precipitation ensure high humidity and the soils remain moist even over long periods of precipitation-free periods.
history
Maya
Settlement by the Mayas in the Cockscomb Basin took place as early as 10,000 BC. However, the first modern research into written history did not take place until 1888. In the foothills of the mountains in the south-east of Belize, there are numerous indications of Maya settlement. The Pearce Ruin was the first Mayan site to be cataloged in modern historical archives. It appears in a report to the British Museum in 1931; however, it was not spotted again until 1995 during the Dunham Surveys . At this late point in time, two other Maya sites were also documented: Hun 'Tul Mo' ( Eng . "An Ara ") and Xa'a Yul Ha ' ( Eng .: "Many rivers").
19th century
The first modern expedition was carried out by the British from 1888 to 1889. The exploration began with river explorations along South Stann Creek and ended with ascending what the explorers believed was Victoria Peak. In fact, the researchers probably climbed a nearby peak, as later reconstructions showed.
20th century
Further exploration of the Cockscomb Basin did not take place until 1927, when British expeditions were sent in search of wood reserves; Deforestation began in 1984, initially mainly with the search for Cedrela odorata and mahogany. When these resources were almost completely exhausted, a national study of the jaguar was undertaken. This scientific study, led by Alan Rabinowitz , showed that the Cockscomb Basin is a particularly important refuge for the jaguar, not just in Belize but for all of Central America.
In 1986 Rabinowitz and Archie Carr III were able to convince the government of Belize to set up a hunting protection zone in a part of the Cockscomb Basin in view of the jaguars. In 1990, after further persuasion, the government of Belize expanded the sanctuary and in 1995 another 160 km² was added to connect the sanctuary with the Bladen Branch Nature Reserve .
In 1988, the IUCN declared the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary to be "The major achievement in cat conservation for the triennium" for the third millennium. This year, Prince Philip, President of the World Wide Fund for Nature — WWF, honored Ignacio Pop for his persuasion work to create the reserve. In 1998 the Victoria Peak National Monument Area was created in which 19.59 km² of land was additionally placed under protection.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Weckel, M., Giuliano, W. and Silver, S .: Cockscomb revisited: jaguar diet in the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize . In: Biotropica . 38, No. 5, 2006, pp. 687-690.
- ^ KM Emmons & al .: Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary . Producciones de la Hamaca, Belize and Orangutan Press, Gays Mills, Wisconsin, USA 1996.
- ^ Ecology of Cockscomb Basin, Belize. Lumina Technologies Inc. 2006.
- ^ Hiking in the Cockscomb Basin .
- ^ Peter Dunham: Memorandum to Osmany Salas May 23, 1995.
- ^ AR Rabinowitz: Jaguar: One Man's Battle to Establish the World's First Jaguar Preserve. Arbor House, New York, NY 1986.
- ↑ Victoria Peak National Monument ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
