Smartphone technology has become a vital tool for Mexican forest rangers working to see the full scope of environmental degradation in the Selva Maya.Project description: Support the monitoring of biodiversity and climate change in the Selva Maya region

Project contractor: German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI)

Project countries: Belize, Guatemala, Mexico

Project volume: €5 million

Project length: 2016 until 2021

The Selva Maya is a vast tropical forest that stretches across Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, and is home to thousands of animal species. But illegal logging, forest fires and climate change are all taking their toll on the landscape. The German development agency GIZ has been supporting monitoring activities aimed to help offer an insight into how much of the forest is still standing, and how threatened certain animals are.

A film by Alexa Meyer