AAACOM trees: Timber species used mainly for cabinetmaking; currently, high value trees and greatly prized in the national and international markets, e.g., mahogany, cedar.

ACTCOM trees: Timber species that are currently commercial species; their value is lower than that of AAACOM trees.

Annual operating plans:These are based on a Commercial Census (full inventory) made in the Annual Harvesting Area. The information obtained from the commercial census includes: a) location of commercial trees with a larger diameter than the Minimum Cutting Diameter (MCD), and commercial trees that are considered future crop trees and whose diameter is smaller than the MCD; b) forest type; and c) for each individual: species, diameter at breast height (DBH), commercial height, timber quality, percentage damages, canopy light levels, and other variables.

Bacadilla (Spanish term): An area that has been defined in the annual operating plan, under a forest management plan, as an area for temporary storage of forest products; also referred to as a timber stockpile – usually comprised of unprocessed timber and located in the forest management area.

Basal Area or Basimetric Area: The Basal Area is the relationship between the sum of the surfaces of the normal sections of a particular mass of forest trees, expressed in m2, and the surface of the land they occupy, expressed in hectares. The Basal Area is usually expressed as “G” (m2 / ha). The normal section of a tree is at chest height, or 1.30 m from its base. The value of its so-called circular surface, which is usually expressed as “g”, is obtained from the measurement of diameter “d” and the application of the formula that yields the area of the circle, g = (π/4) d²
Procedures to determine the basal area are based on forest inventory, and may be “inventories per square foot”, or inventory by statistical sampling, either in sample units (plots) with a fixed surface area, or with a variable radius, i.e., inventory by angular relascopic sampling.

Brinzales (Spanish term): Trees in a diameter class below 5 centimetres.

Buffer Zone: The purpose of the Buffer Zone (BZ) is to reduce the pressure on the Maya Biosphere Reserve by ensuring the appropriate use of the land and the natural resources in the area adjacent to the Core Area and the Multiple Use Zone, in keeping with existing conservation elements.

Container: A large reusable container that complies with international standards, and is equipped with hooks or rings to facilitate crane loading or unloading of goods for long-distance transport.

Core zone:The heart of the Maya Biosphere Reserve. As defined by Law, Core Zones are areas comprising protected wildlands and archaeological sites in which natural processes take place, including undisturbed biological evolution, and where, for ecological, scientific, and cultural reasons, there should be no permanent human settlements, agriculture or livestock farming. These zones protect important gene pools for restoring species to areas where they have become extinct, and they contain sites of outstanding scientific value for the conservation of wildlife and ecological processes.

Cutting cycle: Rotation interval between harvests in the same cutting area, usually determined by volume recovery time and basal area harvested in the respective cutting area.

Directed felling: A method used to fell trees in the right direction to avoid damage to vegetation.

Five-year management plan:A planning tool for updating a management plan; it guarantees the use and conservation of forest resources of commercial species over the next five years.

Forest concessions: Management Units awarded to private individuals or companies to harvest and manage natural resources, implying the reasonable and sustainable use, protection, conservation and improvement of such resources.

Fustales (Spanish term): Trees in the 10–30 cm diameter class.

Future crop tree: A tree whose diameter at breast height is more than 30 cm and less than the minimum cutting diameter established for the species.

General management plans: A tool based on a forest inventory that has a sampling error of less than 20%. The inventory will identify all tree species occurring in the forest, including species of high commercial value, secondary species, and species with no commercial value.

Highly fragmented block: A forest stratum covering an area of less than 5.000 hectares.

Illegal logging: Cutting or harvesting of trees (that are subsequently transported, purchased or sold) without complying with applicable requirements and regulations and/or with any prohibitions established at a national level and/or by international conventions. Download the FAO/ITTO publication on best practices for improving law compliance in the forestry sector

Indexed journals:These are refereed journals that are included in a thematic citation index such as the Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI), or the Art and Humanities Citation Index (A&HCI). These databases are managed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in Philadelphia (USA), which publishes the Journal Citation Reports showing statistical information based on citation data. Each journal is assigned an “Impact Factor”, thus marking the quality of any articles published therein.

Land conversion: Land-use changes that involve partial or complete forest removal for agriculture or livestock farming, or for other purposes.

Latizales bajos (Spanish term):Trees in the 5–10 cm diameter class.

Liana cutting:Cutting of the woody vines that twine around and climb up trees.

Liberation thinning: Removal of dominant trees that hinder tree development and/or compete with favoured trees.

Log cutting:: An action or process for transversally cutting the trunk or branches of a felled tree into logs.

Maya Biosphere Reserve: Designated a protected area by the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala on 30th January 1990 in order to guarantee the conservation of one of the world’s largest and most outstanding assets of natural and cultural heritage for current and future generations. The Reserve combines the conservation and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources with optimization of ecological, economic and social benefits for Guatemala.

Minimum Cutting Diameter:The minimum diameter a timber tree should have reached before cutting; a tree’s diameter is an indicator of its productive maturity and is measured at a height of one metre and thirty centimetres (1.3 m) from the ground.

Moderately fragmented block: A forest stratum covering an area of more than 5.000 hectares and less than 20.000 hectares.

Multiple Use Zone: A zone in the Maya Biosphere Reserve that is used for diverse sustainable activities and uses, in keeping with its potential resources and in accordance with the conservation objectives of the protected area.

Neotropical region: Es una herramienta de planificación que tiene como objetivo general la actualización del plan de manejo, garantiza la utilización y conservación de los recursos forestales para los próximos cinco años de las especies comerciales.

Non-detriment finding:A Non-detriment finding (NDF) is a risk analysis based on the best available scientific information. Whenever sound scientific data are available and there is sufficient capacity to interpret such data, this analysis may be made by means of a desk study.

Parts and derivatives: Parts and derivatives for which it may be necessary to refer to the CITES definition shown in the annotations for listed tree taxa include: logs, sawn wood, veneer sheets, plywood, woodchips, powder, extracts, woodchips, unfinished wood articles used for the fabrication of bows for stringed musical instruments, finished products packaged and ready for retail trade, seedling or tissue cultures obtained in vitro, in solid or liquid media, transported in sterile containers, carvings, etc. Consult the CITES Glossary

Petén: Petén (in the Itza language: Noh Petén, ‘Great Island’) is a department located on the northern tip of Guatemala. It is bounded by Mexico to the north and west, by the departments of Izabal and Alta Verapaz to the south, and by Belize to the east. It covers an area of 35,854 km², making it the largest department in Guatemala.

POTCOM trees:Timber species considered to be potentially commercial during the term of the general management plan.

Refereed journal: An article published in a refereed journal has been reviewed by at least two anonymous, independent, renowned peer reviewers, who have issued a report on its quality, authenticity, and relevance. Such publications are also referred to as “peer reviewed” journals.

Seed tree: A tree belonging to one of the authorized commercial species to be harvested under an approved logging plan; seed trees are selected on the basis of their superior phenotypic and/or genotypic characteristics and are kept for seed production; the location of any such trees should be referenced.

Specimen: A sample, model, or individual that has the qualities or characteristics that are considered representative of the species to which it belongs.

Taxonomic circumscription: Circumscription is used in taxonomy to define the limits of a taxon.

Transport permit: An official public document that accredits the legal origin of wildlife specimens, parts, or derivatives, and which authorizes the transportation of timber products or subproducts that were legally obtained from the wild or from forest plantations in protected areas.

Unfragmented block: A forest stratum covering an area of more than 20.000 hectares.

Wineo: A process in which the timber from felled trees is transported from the cutting site to the temporary stockpile area or bacadilla.