Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve

Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve
Famingoes at Ría Lagartos
Location	Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
Nearest town	San Felipe, Yucatán; Río Lagartos, Yucatán
Coordinates	20°26′0″N 90°13′12″W / 20.43333°N 90.22000°W / 20.43333; -90.22000Coordinates: 20°26′0″N 90°13′12″W / 20.43333°N 90.22000°W / 20.43333; -90.22000
Area	60,348 hectares (233.00 sq mi)
Established	2004

Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Spanish, Largartos Estuary) (established 2004) is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. The reserve is located at the eastern end of the coastal strip of the Yucatán Peninsula, with the Gulf of Mexico at its northern limit. The area encompasses coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico and includes important wetlands designated under the Ramsar Wetlands Convention. The site presents a rich diversity of landscapes and ecosystems, such as mangroves, small estuaries, medium semi-evergreen forest, low deciduous forest, coastal dune vegetation, coastal lagoons, marshes (petenes) and savanna represented by tular vegetation, grasslands and reed beds that are the main nesting sites for marshland and sea birds.

The reserve's surface area (terrestrial and marine) is 60,348 hectares (233.00 sq mi). The core area is 23,681.55 hectares (91.4350 sq mi), surrounded by buffer zone(s) of 36,666.28 hectares (141.5693 sq mi).

Ría Lagartos extends throughout a great wetland area, which represents a good specific example of a community characteristic for this climatic zone. High biological productivity, due to conditions of marine to hyper-salinity in a karst environment, is the reason why the area is considered a globally unique wetland. The wetlands host a significant number of rare, vulnerable or endangered animal and plant species, such as the muscovy duck (Cairina moschata), wood stork (Mycteria americana), and peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus). The American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber ruber) comes to the area in great numbers to feed, nest and reproduce. The beaches are also of great interest and are a protective zone for nesting marine turtles, recognized as one of the main zones of arrival of the hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) and the only one in the State of Yucatán for the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). Furthermore, there are 554 vertebrate species, amongst them 142 endemics.