Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve

Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve The Maya call it “where the sky is born” and Sian Ka’an is a perfect name for this 1.3 million acre of unspoiled wilderness where the sky reaches out endlessly over sea and land. First settled by the Maya in the 5th century AD, Sian Ka’an became a biosphere reserve in 1986. A year later, UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site. The reserve constitutes 10% of the land in Quintana Roo, encompassing 100 meters of coast along with freshwater and coastal lagoons, mangrove swamps, watery cays, savannahs, tropical forests, and a barrier reef. It is home to hundreds of species of birds, fish, mammals and plants including the endangered jaguar. Sian Ka’an is one of the last undeveloped stretches of the North American coastline and to keep it that way much of the reserve is off limits to humans. area.