2011 - Directory of Protected Areas in Belize
Runaway Creek Nature Preserve
Runaway Creek Nature Preserve was established as a bird-banding site under the Birds Without Borders avian research programme, and purchased and established as a private protected area in 1998 by the Milwaukee Zoological Society. It is an accessible reserve, and has focused largely on training in avian research. Ownership is now in the process of transfer to the Foundation for Wildlife Conservation – established by the Reserve’s founder. Physical Features
The topography is dramatic, with savannas occurring on the flat coastal plain in the southwest of the reserve, and broad-leaved forest cloaked limestone hills rising abruptly to 120m. The flatlands occur on Recent Pleistocene, and the hills are comprised of Paleocene-Eocene rock.
Elevation: 10m – 120m above sea level Geology: Recent Pleistocene Paleocene-Eocene Annual Rainfall Regime: 60-80" (1524 - 2032mm)
The northern portion of the Reserve lies within the Sibun River watershed, and the southern portion is within that of the Manatee River. Biodiversity
Five ecosystems occur within the Reserve, grading from short-grass savanna, through broadleaved lowland forest on poor or sandy soils, to lowland broad-leaved hill forest on steep karstic hills. Riparian forest on alluvial soils, and riparian shrubland also occur on the property. Mechanized agriculture (citrus) existed in the northwest of the SPECIES OF INTERNATIONAL CONCERN Reserve. Critically Endangered: Central American River Turtle
Dermatemys mawii
Endangered: Yucatan Black Howler Monkey Aloutta pigra Spider Monkey Ateles geoffroyi Baird’s Tapir Tapirus bairdii Yaxnik Vitex gaumeri Vulnerable Spanish Cedar Great curassow Mahogany
Cedrela odorata Crax rubra Swietenia macrophylla IUCN, 2010
Species of global conservation concern include the critically endangered Central American river turtle, the endangered Baird’s tapir, Yucatan black howler monkey, spider monkey, and fiddlewood, and the vulnerable great curassow mahogany and Spanish cedar. 138