Sian Ka’an, Mexico

Sian Ka’an is located in Quintana Roo State in eastern Mexico on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula and covers a core protection area of 5,280 km². In the language of the Mayan people who once inhabited this region, Sian Ka’an means ‘origin of the sky’. This biosphere reserve contains tropical forests, mangroves and marshes as well as a large marine section intersected by a barrier reef. It provides a habitat for remarkably rich flora and fauna comprising more than 300 species of birds as well as a large number of the region’s characteristic terrestrial vertebrates, which live together in the diverse environment formed by its complex hydrological system.