Editing Belize (section)

===Environment preservation and biodiversity===
{{Main|List of protected areas of Belize}}
Belize has a rich variety of wildlife because of its position between [[North America|North]] and South America and a wide range of climates and habitats for plant and animal life.<ref>{{cite web| author = Moon Handbooks| title = Know Belize – Flora & Fauna| publisher = CentralAmerica.com| year = 2006| url = http://centralamerica.com/belize/moon/bmoflorafauna.htm| access-date = 15 February 2008| archive-date = 12 April 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080412020933/http://centralamerica.com/belize/moon/bmoflorafauna.htm| url-status = dead}}</ref> Belize's low human population and approximately {{convert|8867|sqmi|km2|order=flip}} of undistributed land make for an ideal home for the more than 5,000 species of plants and hundreds of species of animals, including [[armadillo]]s, snakes, and [[monkey]]s.<ref>{{cite book | last = Jayawardena | first = Chandana | title = Tourism and Hospitality Education and Training in the Caribbean | publisher = University of the West Indies Press | year = 2002 | pages = [https://archive.org/details/tourismhospitali0000unse/page/165 165–176] | isbn = 978-9766401191 | url = https://archive.org/details/tourismhospitali0000unse/page/165 }}</ref>

The [[Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary]] is a nature reserve in south-central Belize established to protect the forests, fauna, and [[Drainage basin|watersheds]] of an approximately {{convert|400|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|sigfig=2}} area of the eastern slopes of the Maya Mountains. The reserve was founded in 1990 as the first wilderness sanctuary for the [[jaguar]] and is regarded by one author as the premier site for jaguar preservation in the world.<ref name="autogenerated1996">{{cite book|last=Emmons|first=Katherine M.|date=1996|title=Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary|publisher=Orangutan Press|location=Gays Mills, Wisconsin|isbn=978-0963798220}}</ref>