The Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) is an agrarian region with 90,350 inhabitants who live in 196 permanent settlements within the reserve the largest protected area in Central America. The 21,000 km2 reserve area is located in a Mesoamerican province that contains a particularly rich collection of remains from the Maya culture. There are a wealth of reasons for avoiding the destruction of this area, and efforts to this end must include an understanding local experiences. People living in the region share the reserve with myriad other species in an environment threatened by the expansion of livestock raising, the oil industry and their own limitations in finding ways to use natural resources in a sustainable fashion.