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Goldman Fund Awards Major Grant to Global Heritage Fund Project Aiming to Help Save the Cradle of Maya Civilization

October 30, 2003

 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Goldman Fund Awards Major Grant to Global Heritage Fund Project Aiming to Help Save the Cradle of Maya Civilization

Innovative Approach Links Archaeology and Conservation and Community-based Economic Development to protect 525,000 Acres of Unique Tropical Biosphere and Wildlife Habitat in the Maya Biosphere

September 1st, 2003, Palo Alto, California – The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund announced today it would award Global Heritage Fund (GHF) and the Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies (FARES) a generous catalyst grant of $315,000 to support a breakthrough approach to large-scale environmental protection. Linking archaeological preservation with conservation and economic development, the GHF/FARES project seeks to create an ecologically sustainable and economically viable preserve in the Mirador Basin, the heart of Central America’s last major rainforest and home to the largest concentration of religious and civic buildings in the ancient Maya World.

“This novel approach is our best hope to protect one of the last remaining rainforests for the future, and preserve one of the world’s extraordinary civilizations from the past,” said Richard Gamble, Executive Director of the Goldman Fund. “Our foundation is thrilled to make the first major contribution. We think this project is an innovative, realistic and wise investment.”

In the last decade, logging, slash and burn agriculture, poaching and uncontrolled settlement in the wake of Guatemala’s civil war has left intact only 36% of the Maya Biosphere Reserve where the Mirador Basin is located. Containing the largest contiguous area of roadless wilderness, the Basin’s 600,000 acres of forest, pristine river, lakes swamps and flooding savannahs are home to over 40 threatened wildlife species, 200 native and migratory birds, 300 species of trees and 2,000 different flora. It is one of the largest jaguar habitats in the world.

The Basin is also home to what is believed to be the Cradle of Maya Civilization, where the largest Mayan city and the two largest pyramids in the Americas are located.

Recognizing that ecological and archaeological devastation is swift, permanent and irreversible, GHF and FARES are working in partnership with the Guatemalan government and private and community groups to gain permanent protection for the Mirador Basin, while at the same time igniting a major new economic force for Guatemala, of the same scale as Tikal National Park, which today generates over $200 million in tourism revenues for this impoverished country.

The Goldman grant will establish the first-ever professional Park Service, an 84-person team of park rangers and visitor services personnel for law enforcement, administration, nature, wildlife and archaeological conservation.

Designed to become both economically and environmentally viable, the project will provide jobs for the indigenous neighbor communities of the Basin. In the first year, local community members will participate in both on-the-job and classroom training, while working with trained professionals from Tikal National Park and the U.S. Department of the Interior. In addition, there are plans for two Park and Visitor Centers inside the Mirador Basin.

The Mirador Basin Park Service is a joint program with the Guatemalan government, Tikal National Park and FARES. New funding will support travel expenses for eight U.S. Department of the Interior directors and program leaders. U.S. Department of the Interior International Programs under the Department of the Interior is providing personnel for approved programs. “We expect Mirador Basin to generate over 1,200 new jobs for the people of the Peten, Guatemala in the next five years, a major boost for the local economy which is today based solely on logging, looting, poaching of wildlife and subsistence agriculture,” said Jeff Morgan, Executive Director of Global Heritage Fund, “while at the same time saving forever some of the most important biosphere, wildlife habitat and archaeological sites of the Maya world.”

The Mirador Basin project is the subject of several documentaries (National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, 60 Minutes, ABC 20/20), as well as over twenty articles in popular publications such as National Geographic, the New York Times, Scientific American, and others. Global Heritage Fund has established a private-public ‘Mirador Basin Trust’ to provide an accountable and effective long-term funding solution through revenues from visitors, private donors, international banks and government donor agencies to enable continued operations of the Park Services after GHF, FARES and Goldman Fund monies are no longer available.

About Global Heritage Fund

Global Heritage Fund’s is a non-profit, international conservancy for preserving mankind’s most important cultural heritage sites in developing countries. Our timely investments, global network of experts, and Preservation by Design methodology work together to create a ‘cycle of success’ for Global Heritage sites which have high potential for sustainable preservation, tourism and economic development. See http://www.globalheritagefund.org.

About Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies

The Foundation for Anthropological Research & Environmental Studies (FARES) is a non-profit institution conducting scientific research on ancient societies and their environments for conservation, development and education. The research project in the Mirador Basin has invested over $3 million over the past 10 years in environmental and archaeological research in the Mirador Basin, including excavation and conservation of fourteen major archaeological sites, and has published of over 180 scientific articles on archaeology and the environment in Mirador Basin. http://www.miradorbasin.com.

About the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund

Founded in 1951, the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund is a private, charitable, family foundation that takes risks and acts boldly to heal the world with new thinking and results. The Fund rewards innovation and leadership, courage and creativity in the fields of the environment, Jewish affairs and human services. http://www.goldmanfund.org.

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