Guatemala Chooses Jaguars Over Oil in a Rainforest Reserve
Guatemala decided not to renew an oil-extraction lease inside the Laguna del Tigre reserve, part of the vast Maya Biosphere Reserve. The wells will be closed and the site turned into a base to protect the rainforest — home to jaguars and macaws — from illegal ranching and logging.
EnvironmentGNGV Editorial Team5 min readLast reviewed September 28, 2026
In a decision that puts a rainforest ahead of oil revenue, Guatemala has chosen to let a petroleum operation inside one of Central America’s great wild places come to an end. As reported by the Good News Network on January 28, 2026, the government decided not to renew the extraction lease held by the Anglo-French company Perenco on a roughly 7,000-acre field within the Laguna del Tigre reserve — an area of about 830,000 acres that forms part of the enormous Maya Biosphere Reserve.
The Maya Biosphere is a crown jewel of tropical forest, stretching across northern Guatemala and connecting to protected lands in Belize and Mexico to form one of the largest remaining rainforests north of the Amazon. It shelters jaguars, macaws and countless other species, along with ancient Maya archaeological sites. For years, however, it has been eaten away at the edges by illegal cattle ranching and logging.
Rather than pump more oil, Guatemala plans to close the wells and repurpose the Campo Xan facility as a base for the military and police to defend the reserve, coordinating cross-border patrols with Mexico and Belize. “This marks the beginning of a process of taking control of a vast portion of the national territory,” said President Bernardo Arévalo. Environment Minister Patricia Orantes framed it in broader terms: “We must conserve the Maya Forest for the good of Guatemalans and for the world. Protecting the climate is our responsibility.”
Conservationists note that turning a decision on paper into a thriving, well-guarded forest will take sustained funding and enforcement, and some are cautious about whether a stronger security presence alone can stop the invasions. But the symbolism and the substance both matter: a developing nation with real financial pressures chose long-term ecological wealth over short-term fossil-fuel income. In an age when many forests are still being opened up for extraction, Guatemala’s choice to close a well and guard the trees instead is a hopeful signal of where conservation can go.
