©Fulvio Eccardi

A plant is called a seedling during its early stages of development, from the time it germinates until the first true leaves develop.

©Fulvio Eccardi

The breadnut is a tree that grows in the rainforests of Mexico and Central America, reaching a height of up to 45 m. Its seed has a high fiber, calcium, potassium, folate, iron and vitamin A, B and C content. When roasted and milled, it is used as a coffee substitute; boiled and ground, it is used as tortilla dough. Its latex and bark have medicinal properties and its timber is used to make furniture and handicrafts.

©Fulvio Eccardi

©Fulvio Eccardi

The dried fruits of the allspice are used as a condiment in many dishes and can easily be combined with other spices. Its taste and smell is similar to that of cloves, cinnamon, black pepper and nutmeg, which is why it is called “allspice” in English. The allspice tree is native to Mexico and Central America, produces fruit from six years onwards and is fully productive at 20 years. Each tree produces between 20 and 50 kg of green peppercorns per year; three kg of green pepper are equivalent to one of dried pepper.

©Fulvio Eccardi

Native secondary vegetation that arises spontaneously, usually forest land that was under agricultural or livestock use in tropical areas.

Also known as the Gran Petén or Greater Petén region, it comprises 10.3 million hectares and is the second largest area of tropical forest in America after the Amazon. The Maya tropical forest extends throughout Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, providing shelter for countless rare, endangered species such as the tapir and the howler monkey.

©Fulvio Eccardi

Calakmul means ‘two adjacent mounds’ in Mayan. Calakmul is a pre-Hispanic Maya archaeological site located in the southeastern state of Campeche, in the Greater Petén region. Recent research has found that, along with Tikal and Palenque, Calakmul was the most important city in the Classic Maya period and headed the political organization of the highlands.

Cultural heritage comprises monuments, groups or places with a historical, artistic or scientific value. In recent decades, new heritage categories including monuments and sites have been promoted such as: cultural landscapes, cultural routes, modern heritage and industrial heritage.

Natural heritage consists of natural monuments with biological physical formations or groups of these formations, which are of outstanding value from an aesthetic or scientific point of view. It also includes geological and physiographic formations, natural places and strictly delineated areas, the habitat of threatened flora and fauna species, which are of outstanding value from the point of view of science, conservation, or natural beauty.

Mixed heritage responds partly or totally to the definitions of cultural and natural heritage.