On Friday, August 15, 2025, a historic agreement was reached among the leaders of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize to create a vast tri-national nature reserve aimed at protecting the Mayan rainforest. The announcement, made during a high-profile meeting in Calakmul, Mexico, marks a significant step in regional conservation efforts and comes amid ongoing debates about the future of the controversial Maya Train project.
The newly established reserve will span more than 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares) of dense jungle, stretching across southern Mexico and the northern regions of Guatemala and Belize. According to the Associated Press, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum described the move as “historic,” emphasizing its scale and importance. "This is one of Earth's lungs, a living space for thousands of species with an invaluable cultural legacy that we should preserve with our eyes on the future," Sheinbaum said, standing alongside Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo and Belize Prime Minister Johnny Briceño.
The creation of this reserve makes it the second largest protected area in Latin America, trailing only the Amazon rainforest. Environmental groups, including Mexico-based Selvame, cautiously welcomed the announcement. In a statement quoted by multiple outlets, Selvame called the reserve a “monumental step for conservation” but urged that it not be merely symbolic. "We're in a race against the clock. Real estate and construction companies are invading the jungle, polluting our ecosystems, and endangering both the water we consume, and the communities that depend on it," the group warned, calling for effective government monitoring to halt destructive activities.
Yet, even as the leaders celebrated this conservation milestone, their meeting was also dominated by discussions over the Maya Train—a mega-infrastructure project that has sharply divided opinion in the region. The Maya Train, which currently runs roughly 1,000 miles around Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula, was originally championed by former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Its stated goal is to connect remote jungle and rural communities with popular Caribbean resorts and Mayan archaeological sites, thereby spurring economic development in some of Mexico’s poorest regions.
However, as reported by the Associated Press and other outlets, the train’s construction has come at a steep environmental cost. Over the course of four years, approximately 7 million trees were cut down, and the project has been widely criticized for slicing through jungle habitats and damaging a fragile cave system that serves as the main water source for the region. Environmentalists and local communities have fought legal battles to halt construction, but López Obrador pressed ahead, fast-tracking the project without detailed environmental studies and ignoring judicial orders to stop work.
Now, with Sheinbaum at the helm, the Mexican government has floated the idea of expanding the Maya Train into Guatemala and Belize. This proposal was a central topic during Friday’s trilateral talks. Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, while acknowledging the economic potential of the train, drew a clear line. “I've made it very clear at all times that the Maya Train will not pass through any protected area,” Arévalo stated, according to the Associated Press. He underscored the need for rigorous environmental studies and insisted that the train must not encroach on Guatemala’s protected jungles, particularly in the Peten region.
Sheinbaum and Arévalo, in their first face-to-face meeting in Guatemala’s northern Peten, also considered alternative proposals for the train’s route. One option discussed was having the train loop around the jungles of Guatemala and Belize, rather than cutting directly through sensitive ecosystems. This approach, they suggested, could balance economic ambitions with environmental preservation.
The debate over the Maya Train is emblematic of the broader tensions between economic development and environmental stewardship in the region. While Sheinbaum has championed the potential for the train to bring prosperity to rural areas, environmental groups remain wary. Critics point to the legacy of López Obrador’s administration, which, as BBC and the Associated Press have reported, repeatedly bypassed environmental safeguards and dismissed concerns from scientists and activists.
Beyond environmental issues, the trilateral talks also addressed other pressing regional challenges. Both Sheinbaum and Arévalo spoke of the need for stronger coordination on migration, law enforcement, and economic development. Mounting cartel violence along the Mexico-Guatemala border has forced communities to flee, with reports of around 100 Mexicans crossing into Guatemala earlier in the week due to a burst of violence. The leaders agreed to work together to address these security concerns and to coordinate their responses to migration flows that continue to shape the region’s politics and society.
In her remarks after the summit, Sheinbaum highlighted the spirit of cooperation that defined the talks. “Today, Mexico and Guatemala are demonstrating the will of two sister nations, with governments committed to justice and their peoples, to move forward together toward a more dignified, equitable and free future,” she said, as reported by the Associated Press.
The presence of Belize Prime Minister Johnny Briceño at the Calakmul meeting underscored the regional significance of both the new nature reserve and the Maya Train debate. Briceño joined Sheinbaum and Arévalo in reaffirming their commitment to sustainable development and the protection of shared natural resources.
Environmental groups like Selvame remain vigilant, however. Their call for robust monitoring and enforcement highlights the challenges ahead. As Selvame put it, the creation of a reserve is only the first step; ensuring that it is not undermined by unchecked development or weak oversight will require sustained political will and public engagement.
As the dust settles from this week’s summit, the region stands at a crossroads. The tri-national reserve offers hope for the preservation of one of the planet’s most vital ecosystems, while the fate of the Maya Train will test the ability of leaders to balance growth and conservation. The coming months will reveal whether the promises made in Calakmul translate into lasting change on the ground.
For now, the eyes of environmentalists, local communities, and international observers remain fixed on the jungles of southern Mexico and northern Central America—watching to see if this "historic" agreement marks the beginning of a new era, or just another chapter in a long and complicated story.