Belize ecology - tropical rainforests, marine biodiversity


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Learn about Belize > Ecology
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Ecology
Belize is a spectacular country rich in teeming jungles, lush rainforests, dry pine savannas, tangled mangrove swamps, and dynamic coral reefs. It is truly one of the best examples in the New World Tropics of a species rich, biologically diverse country and is a leader in conservation initiatives.

Belize offers a wide range of ecological and cultural zones, including the largest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere (the second largest in the world); protected areas for howler monkeys, jaguars, exotic birds and other endangered species; and diverse tropical ecosystems.

Environmental protection
Belize is one of the regional leaders in environmental protection. Forty percent of Belize's land mass is designated as protected areas, the highest percentage in the world, and almost sixty percent of the country remains covered with biologically diverse forests.

Biodiversity
The varied habitats within this exciting county are host to a tremendous variety of organisms, from the solitary jaguar, giant tapir, and miniature silky anteater, to leaf cutting ants and the rare fungus they work so hard to cultivate.

The combination of neo-tropical rainforest and marine environments, such as the coral reefs and coastal mangrove estuaries, support the greatest density of species to be found in the earth's biosphere and are an endless reservoir of genetic and evolutionary information.

The degree of specialization and the fascinating adaptations of the flora and fauna found in this region have intrigued naturalists for generations. Nowhere else in the world can you experience two more intriguing, dynamic, and diverse habitats as Belize's barrier reef and tropical rainforest.

Explore:

          Did you know?
                 Belize is home
                  to more than
                    250 varieties
                   of wild orchids.

Silky tamandua
(Cyclopes didactylus)

Arboreal and nocturnal, the Silky tamandua (also known as the Silky anteater) is difficult to see when active but occasionally can be spotted sleeping in the daytime, curled up into a tight furball, usually in a tangle of vines or in a cohune plant.