Payne's Creek National Park
| Payne's Creek National Park | |
|---|---|
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IUCN category II (national park) | |
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  Map of Belize | |
| Location | Toledo District, Belize |
| Coordinates | 16°19′37″N 88°34′37″W / 16.327°N 88.577°WCoordinates: 16°19′37″N 88°34′37″W / 16.327°N 88.577°W[1] |
| Area | 37,680 acres (152 km2) |
Payne's Creek National Park is a nature reserve in the Toledo District of southern Belize. The park encompasses 37,680 acres (152 km2) of land including the dominant broadleaf forest as well as mangrove areas.[2]
Natural history
This national park, stretched along the lower reaches of the Monkey River, was previously disturbed by banana farming and slash-and-burn agricultural practices; however, in 2007 a verdant broadleaf secondary forest provides habitat for a diverse tropical flora and fauna.
Black howler monkey troops are abundant, each troop maintaining a home range of 40,000 to 70,000 square metres (430,000 to 750,000 sq ft) in this forest(Lumina, 2006).
Maya sites
At least four Maya sites have been discovered in Payne's Creek National Park to date. Included are a site now under water, with rare preserved wooden artifacts and portions of wooden buildings.[3]
Bibliography
- Toledo Institute Payne's Creek National Park, Belize
- Lumina Tech, "Hydrology and ecology of the Monkey River watershed, southern Belize", 2006
References
- ↑ "Paynes Creek National Park". protectedplanet.net.
- ↑ Toledo Institute Payne's Creek National Park, Belize
- ↑ "LSU Works to Preserve Underwater Maya Sites in Belize". Louisiana State University.
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