Aguacaliente Wildlife Sanctuary

Aguacaliente Wildlife Sanctuary
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Map of Belize
Location	Toledo District, Belize
Coordinates	16°08′22″N 89°10′21″W
Area	5,492 acres (22 km2)
Established	1998
Governing body	Co-managed by Aguacaliente Management Team

The Aguacaliente Wildlife Sanctuary is a nature reserve in the Toledo District of southern Belize. It encompasses approximately 5,492 acres (22.23 km²) and was declared a sanctuary in 1998. The Sanctuary is critical for the preservation of biodiversity in Belize and the region. The National Park protects the central wetlands areas which consist of three fresh water lagoons and a hot-spring connected by a number of creeks hence the name Aguacaliente. It is co-managed by the Aguacaliente Management Team (AMT), a consortium of people from adjacent villages.

Notable Features

• The lagoons are a feeding area for hundreds of waterfowl including wood storks, endangered jabiru storks, black-bellied whistling ducks, sandpipers, and others. Many of the birds use the sanctuary as a transmigration point during their seasonal journeys.
• The Aguacaliente Wildlife Sanctuary plays an important role in flood control and water purification. The wetlands act as a filter for the Moho River Watershed, holding and cleansing runoff and floodwaters before they travel through adjacent villages to the Gulf of Honduras.
• The forest and savanna areas of the Aguacaliente Wildlife Sanctuary provide habitat for a wide variety of animals including gibnuts|peccary, black howler monkeys, white-tailed deer, kinkajous, and endangered tapirs and jaguar.

See also

• List of protected areas of Belize

External links

• http://www.belizeit.com/aguacaliente-wildlife-sanctuary.html
• http://biological-diversity.info/luha.htm
• http://protectedplanet.net/301992
• http://www.belizeexplorer.com/Belize-on-a-Budget/Aguacaliente-Wildlife-Sanctuary.html