Mirador Basin

The Mirador Basin is a hypothesized geological depression found in the remote rainforest of the northern department of Petén, Guatemala.

The basin is surrounded by rugged karstic limestone hills on the east and south, forming a triangular geographical "trough" covering more than 2,169 km2 (837 sq mi).

Dozens of additional sites are dispersed within the Basin, including several extremely large ones such as Naachtun in the northeast corner which is currently under investigation by a team from the University of Calgary in Canada (Director: Kathryn Reese-Taylor).

Illegal logging and forest fires resulting from slash and burn agricultural practices threaten Mirador Basin's rich biodiversity.

"[2] The region belongs to the Maya Biosphere Reserve that represents the last large area of intact tropical rainforest remaining in Mesoamerica.