REFUGIO DE VIDA SILVESTRE BOCAS DEL POLOCHIC
The reserve is also a Ramsar site and Guatemala's biggest manatee-watching site, home to other animal species.
By forming a delta that flows into the Izabal Lake, the Polochic River created a marshy area: the Refugio de Vida Silvestre Bocas del Polochic, which developed at the western end of the lake. Of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, the site acts as a filter for nutrients, sediments and pathogens from the Cahabón and Polochic rivers. As a result, the pollution caused by industries and inhabitants of the valley is reduced before it reaches the Izabal lake, which in turn flows into the Dulce river, until it reaches the Caribbean Sea.
In addition, the reserve has the largest number of manatees in Guatemala and is considered to be the largest observation site for these aquatic animals, which the conquistadors mistook for mermaids, in the Gulf of Honduras. It is also possible to see 326 species of birds, 49 mammals, 25 reptiles, 11 amphibians and more than 89 species of fish. Around its 207.6 km² of territory live about 5,500 people, mainly from Mayan communities. A local population trained in environmental conservation by the NGO Defensores de la Naturaleza - which administers the reserve since 1996 - through educational programs.
To organize a visit, contact the NGO or ask the reception of your accommodation - in El Estor as in Río Dulce - to put you in touch with a guide.