ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the Maya Forest waterlands analyzed from a transboundary river basin (TRB) perspective that analyzes two transboundary sub-basins of the Usumacinta TRB shared by Guatemala and Mexico: the Gran Usumacinta and Santo Domingo sub-basins. It discusses the main characteristics of both sub-basins regarding waters and forests that define them as waterful locations and environmentally well-preserved territories. As these waterlands are located in borderlands, data regarding access to water and sanitation services evidence that TRBs are also waterless contexts for the local population in both countries. They share deforestation processes and a decreasing presence of forests during the last decades. Nevertheless, in contrast with these common conditions of living in river basins sharing resources in remote conditions, the political border that divides Guatemala and Mexico defines contrasting realities regarding water and sanitation services as well as forest losses and the role of protected areas (PAs) for tree coverage. Shared river basins are thus, above all, marked by boundaries that also highlight the contrasting realities of the Maya Forest waterlands and reveal deep inequalities.
