National Parks

Area: 6,000 acres. This protected area is located near the Maya village of Laguna. Its features include a lagoon and wetland ecosystem. The lagoon and nearby limestone hills are home to many species of orchids, grasses, insects, birds, animals and other wildlife and is especially known for being a bird watchers paradise. The hike to the lagoon takes about two hours from the village and a ranger station is located approximately one 1/2 hour into the hike. No amenities other than an outhouse are available there. Past the ranger station, the trail enters marsh and lowland vegetation. The trails are

Area: 97,000 acres. Bladen River Nature Reserve is Belize's most significant pristine protected rainforest. It is covering 97,000 acres of of wild habitat for natural and biological diversity. The reserve gets its name from the Bladen Branch of the Monkey River, which runs northeasterly through the area. Bladen River Nature Reserve has been set aside to preserve its watershed, pristine forest and large population of endangered species. It was declared a reserve in 1990 by the Government of Belize to be held for research only. Bladen Reserve is a remote haven for wildlife. Lofty trees, towering palms, massive lianas, giant

Area: 10,000 acres. The Golden Stream Corridor Reserve is a private nature reserve. It is designed to   protect important tracts of forest on the southern coast of Belize. Large blocks of pristine mixed broad-leaf forest, including Santa Maria trees and many large mahoganies, make the preservation of this habitat especially important. As the last tropical lowland forest linking the Maya Mountains with Port Honduras Marine Reserve, the Golden Stream Corridor Reserve provides essential food, shelter and safe places for a rich array of indigenous wildlife. Although not as beautiful as it once was, Golden Stream was badly damaged as a

Area: 37,680 acres. Paynes Creek National Park is located near the village of Monkey River and is under the management of the Paynes Creek Management Committee, formed of local residents and the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE). This national park was established in 1994 to protect a variety of wetland habitats, the unique physiographic feature of an extensive sequence of storm-built coastal ridges the local wildlife and flora. Paynes Creek National Park is unique because it protects many different habitats in a small area. It is surrounded by a mix of broadleaf and marshland vegetation. Hyper saline, saline and brackish

Area: 42,000 acres. The Sarstoon Temash National Park was declared a protected area by the Government of Belize in 1994 and is the second largest National Park in Belize. The park is located in the southeastern most part of the Toledo District and with the border running parallel to the southern border between Belize and Guatemala, at the Sarstoon River. The park was recognized for its old growth stands of red mangrove, significant rivers and wetland ecosystems. In 2003, a new wetland ecosystem was discovered in the heart of the protected area, known as Sphagnum Moss wetland, this habitat