Payne's Creek National Park
{{Short description|National park in Belize}}
{{Infobox Protected area
| name = Payne's Creek National Park
| iucn_category = II
| photo = Monkeyriverpayneforest.jpg
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| map = Belize
| map_caption = Map of Belize
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| relief = 1
| location = Toledo District, Belize
| nearest_city =
| coordinates = {{coord|16.327|N|88.577|W|region:BZ-TOL|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| area = {{convert|37680|acre|km2|0|abbr=on}}
| established =
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Payne's Creek National Park is a nature reserve in the Toledo District of southern Belize. The park encompasses {{convert|37680|acre|km2|0}} of land including the dominant broadleaf forest as well as mangrove areas.Toledo Institute [http://tidebelize.org/pcnp Payne's Creek National Park, Belize]
Natural history
This national park, which stretches along the lower reaches of the Monkey River, was previously disturbed by banana farming and slash-and-burn agricultural practices; however, in 2007 a verdant broadleaf secondary forest provides habitat for a diverse tropical flora and fauna.
Black howler monkey troops are abundant, each troop maintaining a home range of {{Convert|40000|to|70000|m2}} in this forest(Lumina, 2006).
Maya sites
At least four Maya sites have been discovered in Payne's Creek National Park to date. Included are a site now under water, with rare preserved wooden artifacts and portions of wooden buildings.{{Cite web|url= http://www.lsu.edu/departments/gold/2012/05/maya_belize.shtml |title= LSU Works to Preserve Underwater Maya Sites in Belize |publisher= Louisiana State University}}
The excavations of submerged Mayan saltworks at the Payne's Creek National Park, dating back to 300–900 AD, highlight the usage of stone tools for cutting meat or fish, salting and preserving them within wooden kitchens, in order to be transported to inland markets.{{cite journal|last1=McKillop|first1=Heather|last2=Aoyama|first2=Kazuo|title=Salt and marine products in the Classic Maya economy from use-wear study of stone tools|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|publisher=PNAS|date=8 October 2018|volume=115|issue=43|pages=10948–10952|doi=10.1073/pnas.1803639115|pmid=30297416|pmc=6205481|doi-access=free}}
Bibliography
- Toledo Institute [http://tidebelize.org/pcnp Payne's Creek National Park, Belize]
- Lumina Tech, "Hydrology and ecology of the Monkey River watershed, southern Belize", 2006
=References=
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{{Belize reserves}}
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Category:National parks of Belize
Category:Nature conservation in Belize
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