Deforestation is the greatest threat to the Lacandon culture and language.
There is a symbiotic relationship between the Lacandones
and the rainforest in which they live. The Lacandon people thrived in
the jungle for hundreds of years, taking care not to overuse it. At that
time, the forest covered 13,000 square kilometers of lowland
Chiapas. However, burgeoning colonization has exacted a toll on the forest
with grave consequences. Despite presidential decrees in
1972 and 1975 to protect the forest by creating biosphere reserves, two-thirds
of the Selva Lacandona have been turned into farmland and pasture, leaving
less than 4,000 square kilometers of the original forest intact (Nations
2006:114).
Go to the Lacandon
eco-literacy project, to read about current project developments and
see how you can help to preserve the forest.
LacandonCulturalHeritage
Deforestation is the greatest threat to the Lacandon culture and language.
There is a symbiotic relationship between the Lacandones
and the rainforest in which they live. The Lacandon people thrived in
the jungle for hundreds of years, taking care not to overuse it. At that
time, the forest covered 13,000 square kilometers of lowland
Chiapas. However, burgeoning colonization has exacted a toll on the forest
with grave consequences. Despite presidential decrees in
1972 and 1975 to protect the forest by creating biosphere reserves, two-thirds
of the Selva Lacandona have been turned into farmland and pasture, leaving
less than 4,000 square kilometers of the original forest intact (Nations
2006:114).
