|
Soaring temples and dramatic plazas, dating from 600 BC to 900 AD, rise dramatically from a vast swath of tropical forest. Ocellated Turkeys wander along ancient Mayan footpaths, Red Macaws and Crested Eagles flap through the canopy, and mantled howler monkeys, jaguars, and three-toed sloths depend on the thick forest for food and cover.
For the first time since Tikal National Park was founded in 1955, there are community-based nature guides to interpret for travelers and locals alike the value of Tikal as one of Central America’s ecological touchstones.
Born and raised in the communities surrounding the park, none of the 12 RARE-trained guides had attended university and few had finished primary school. But this group will be the first corps of guides licensed by the Guatemalan government to work in Tikal (and the entire Guatemalan state of Peten) that have not received specialized degrees. Until this year, Tikal guides came almost exclusively, from the capital city to snap up jobs giving archeological tours of the park. Until now, there were neither opportunities for local guides in the park nor a determined interest on behalf of local communities to maintain the ecological wealth of the region.
Diego Hernandez, from the neighboring town of Zocotzal and a graduate of RARE’sNature Guide Training Program in Tikal, did not have the opportunity to finish primary school and began working at a very young age. Before he took the course he depended upon gathering xate (a threatened species of jade palm used in the international floral industry) to care for his large family.
"My new job in Tikal is beautiful,"
say Hernandez who now guides and does biological monitoring
in the park, supplemented by farming his family's field.
"I used to collect xate almost exclusively, but
I have left that now for good. The NGTP course was a
great window of opportunity for me."
|
