Sites - Important Bird Areas (IBAs)

Summary Rio La Pasion is an important site for species restricted to the Gulf Caribbean Slope. Although this IBA is entirely legally protected, it faces threats by an advancing agricultural border and lack of appropriate management.

Ornithological information Rio La Pasion is an important site for 12 species restricted to the Gulf Caribbean Slope. Recent ornithological information is limited to an ecological rapid assessment (AHT 2000) and some additional species records (Eisermann & Avendaño 2007).

Site description Rio La Pasion is located in the Atlantic slope lowlands. The western limit is marked by the Usumacinta river, bordering Chiapas, Mexico.

Populations of IBA trigger species

Protected areas

Protected area	Designation	Area (ha)	Relationship with IBA	Overlap with IBA (ha)
Aguateca	Cultural Monument	1,683	protected area contained by site	0
Ceibal	Cultural Monument	1,512	protected area contained by site	0
Complejos I y II APSP	Zona de Amortiguamiento	125,383	protected area contained by site	0
Dos Pilas	Cultural Monument	3,120	protected area contained by site	0
El Pucté	Wildlife Refuge	16,695	protected area contained by site	0
El Rosario	National Park	1,105	protected area contained by site	0
Petexbatún	Wildlife Refuge	4,044	protected area contained by site	0
San Román	Biological Reserve	60,878	protected area contained by site	0

Habitats

Land use

Management considerations Protected areas in this IBA lack appropriate management and surveillance. Natural habitat is threatened by an advancing agricultural border and forest fires (ParksWatch 2002).

Protection status This IBA is entirely legally protected (CONAP 2007). The site contains a national park, two wildlife refuges, a biological reserve, and several cultural monuments. Surrounding area is declared as buffer zone. The area is threatened by management deficiencies.

Acknowledgements 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 Input of unpublished data and suggestions for the delimitation of the IBA was provided during this workshop by representatives of Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas (CONAP) -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.

References 

AHT International GmbH. 2000. Diseño de un sistema de monitoreo y evaluación de indicadores biológicos para las áreas protegidas del sur de Petén. SEGEPLAN-PROSELVA, Guatemala. (Unpublished report)

CONAP. 2007. Lista de áreas protegidas inscritas en el SIGAP. Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas (CONAP), Guatemala. (Database accessed in June 2007)

Eisermann, K. & C. Avendaño. 2007. Lista comentada de las aves de Guatemala - Annotated checklist of the birds of Guatemala. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain.

MAGA. 2006. Mapa de cobertura vegetal y uso de la tierra a escala 1:50,000 de la República de Guatemala, Año 2003 (Incluye 5 cultivos perennes actualizados al año 2005). Memoria técnica y descripción de resultados. Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Alimentación –MAGA– / Unidad de Planificación Geográfica y Gestión de Riesgo –UPGGR–, Guatemala Ciudad, Guatemala.

ParksWatch. 2002. Park profile–Guatemala: Ceibal Cultural Monument. ParksWatch Guatemala. Available online at: www.parkswatch.org

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Recommended citation  BirdLife International (2013) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Rio La Pasion. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/06/2013

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