The National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), together with civil society organizations, held the National Congress on Biological Diversity and Protected Areas 2025, under the theme “Megadiverse Guatemala, a Shared Responsibility.”

More than 350 participants attended, representing government institutions, NGOs, academia, cooperation agencies, the private sector, and community leaders.

The event took place from November 11–13, 2025, at Finca San Cayetano in Alotenango, Sacatepéquez.

Over three days of learning and exchange, participants discussed the current state of the country’s natural heritage; the achievements, challenges, and opportunities of the Guatemalan System of Protected Areas (SIGAP); and the promotion of actions for conservation, restoration, and sustainable management.

Using various working formats, the Congress deepened the discussion on the challenges and opportunities that biodiversity conservation in Guatemala currently faces.

The event featured seven thematic tracks, keynote presentations, panels, discussion forums, and parallel activities including the Calakmul Declaration: “Biocultural Corridor Gran Selva Maya,” an exchange on the Mesoamerican Reef, and the 8th edition of the Coastal–Marine Symposium.

The thematic lines addressed during the Congress included:

• Conservation models in the society–nature relationship

• Knowledge, conservation, and sustainable use of wildlife

• Public, private, and collective alliances and investments for biodiversity and protected areas

• Valuation of biological diversity

• Planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution

• Ecosystem goods, services, and their restoration

• Inclusive participation of youth in the future of environmental management and conservation

WCS Guatemala contributed through several sessions:

• Discussion forum on successes, restoration efforts, and ongoing challenges in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, presented by the Country Director (Thematic line: ecosystem goods, services, and restoration).

• Biological monitoring in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, highlighting WCS’s pioneering work and more than 20 years of results with scarlet macaws and jaguars (Thematic line: knowledge, conservation, and sustainable use of wildlife).

• Ecological Restoration and Sustainable Livelihoods along the Route to Carmelita, Maya Biosphere Reserve (poster session).

• Governance, alliances, and platforms panel, and a high-level discussion forum on challenges and solutions using marine–coastal environmental instruments, as part of the 8th Coastal–Marine Symposium.

For more information, contact mesoamerica@wcs.org