AID grant no. 598-0784-G-00-0035-00 to PRONATURA, A.C. to support natural resource management in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Campeche, Mexico

PRONATURA"s Yucatan Chapter will implement this project. The baseline studies/environmental inventories component, which will contribute to the development of master and operational plans for the Reserve, will include five activities: data base development; botanical, avian, and mammalian studies; and a study of subsistence hunting. The buffer zone management component will include socioeconomic studies and the development of a community conservation/outreach program. As part of the latter, PRONATURA Yucatan will examine the economic feasibility of promising development activities and will promote community acceptance of forest management as well as honey production and ecotourism microenterprises. The grant also provides funding for project administration and limited institutional strengthening.