The Trifinio Biosphere Reserve is a protected area in

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 ...

, located where the borders of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras meet (thus the prefix ''tri'' in its name). The reserve was created in 1987, and has an area of 221.79 km². It protects the Guatemalan portion of the Montecristo massif and its cloud forests, and is the Guatemalan portion of the Trifinio Fraternidad Transboundary Biosphere Reserve, which spans the three countries' borders.

Flora and fauna

The biosphere reserve was created to protect the Montecristo

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

and its rare flora and fauna. The dense cloud forest of oak and laurel trees, which grow up to 30 meters high, houses rare wildlife species like the

two-fingered anteater The silky anteater, also known as the pygmy anteater, has traditionally been considered a single species of anteater, ''Cyclopes didactylus'', in the genus ''Cyclopes'', the only living genus in the family Cyclopedidae. Found in southern Mexico, ...

striped owl The striped owl (''Asio clamator'') is a medium-sized owl with large ear tufts and a brownish-white facial disk rimmed with black. Its beak is black, and it has cinnamon-colored eyes. It has shorter, rounder wings than most of its close relative ...

toucan Toucans (, ) are members of the Neotropical near passerine bird family Ramphastidae. The Ramphastidae are most closely related to the American barbets. They are brightly marked and have large, often colorful bills. The family includes five ge ...

agouti The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...

s, pumas, and

spider monkey Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...

Conservation

Protection of the Montecristo massif was a joint initiative of these three countries. Guatemala's Trifinio Biosphere Reserve and Honduras' Montecristo Trifinio National Park were created in 1987. El Salvador's Montecristo National Park was created in 2008. The international biosphere reserve was created in 2011. The protection of the Montecristo massif was part of a broader plan, known as the Trifinio plan, to develop this border region.

References

{{Reflist Biosphere reserves of Guatemala Central American pine–oak forests