Cañón del Usumacinta is a protected natural area in southern Mexico. It protects part of the Usumacinta Canyon, where the

Usumacinta River The Usumacinta River (; named after the howler monkey) is a river in southeastern Mexico and northwestern Guatemala. It is formed by the junction of the Pasión River, which arises in the Sierra de Santa Cruz (Guatemala), Sierra de Santa Cruz ...

winds northwards in a narrow gorge which cuts through parallel ridges. It is located in the state of

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

, on the border with Guatemala.

Geography

The Cañón del Usumacinta Flora and Fauna Protection Area covers 461.28 km². The Usumacinta River forms the western boundary of the protected area. The

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

n border forms its southern boundary, where it adjoins Guatemala's

Sierra del Lacandón The Sierra del Lacandón is a low karstic mountain range in Guatemala and Mexico. It is situated in the north-west of the department of El Petén and the south-east of Chiapas. Its highest points are located near the Mexican border at coordina ...

National Park.

Flora and fauna

The Cañón del Usumacinta is in the

Petén–Veracruz moist forests The Petén–Veracruz moist forests is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest biome found in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. Setting The Petén–Veracruz moist forests cover an area of , extending from central Veracr ...

ecoregion, evergreen tropical rain forests that extend from Mexico's southern Gulf Coastal Plain across northern Guatemala and Belize to the Caribbean Sea. High evergreen rain forest is the predominant plant community, with areas of low thorn forest."Cañón del Usumacinta". SIMEC-CONANP, Government of Mexico. Accessed 29 September 2021

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References

{{reflist Protected areas of Tabasco Flora and fauna protection areas of Mexico Guatemala–Mexico border Usumacinta River Petén–Veracruz moist forests