El Eden Ecological Reserve is a non governmental organization Ecological Reserve in

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Located at the northeastern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula ({{Convert, 30, mi NW of Cancun), El Eden is a non-governmental natural protected area of the mesoamerican tropical rain forest. It is the home of a variety of research projects in Agroecology, Archaeology, Biodiversity Studies, Ecosystem Studies,

Ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide fund ...

, GIS, Regional Studies, Restoration Ecology, Silviculture, and Wildlife Management. There are seven major ecosystems represented at El Eden including Semideciduous tropical rain forest, Secondary semideciduous forest, Seasonally inundated forest, Palm Grove, Savanna, Other wetlands, and Cenote. One of the main research projects/groups that is hosted at El Eden is HabitatNet, which is a global biodiversity monitoring project. The field research is performed by secondary and high school students and teachers from all over the world that compare local plants and animals with each other, and with those in the students’ native habitats. The reports created from the students’ work is then submitted to the Smithsonian Institution. One of the main goals of the biological and ecological diversity field research projects is to be able to fully understand the biodiversity within the reserve. Once a total inventory and base understanding of all taxa is complete, that information can be used to determine how to best protect, manage, enrich or restore biodiversity within El Eden and similar reserves.

External links

El Eden Ecological Reserve webpage
Nature reserves in Mexico Protected areas of Quintana Roo