100-678: The San Pedro River Preserve is a Nature Conservancy preserve in Dudleyville, Arizona . The Preserve comprises 820 acres (3.3 km) of deeded land along the San Pedro River acquired for the protection of southwestern willow flycatcher ( Empidonax traillii extimus ) habitat. There are two miles of cottonwood/willow riparian. It is one of several properties along the Lower San Pedro River owned and managed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC). This property isn't open to
200-435: A 22-square-kilometre (8.5 sq mi) area around the site core, an area considered as Inner Calakmul. The location of Calakmul at the edge of a bajo provided two additional advantages: the fertile soils along the edge of the swamp and access to abundant flint nodules . The city is situated on a promontory formed by a natural 35-metre (115 ft) high limestone dome rising above the surrounding lowlands. This dome
300-732: A 4-star rating, with a score of 96%, for the 2022 fiscal year. Like many large environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the World Wildlife Fund , the Conservancy includes allowances for hunting and fishing within its management policies. The organization does not totally ban hunting or fishing but defers to state hunting and fishing regulations. The organization publishes The Nature Conservancy magazine ( ISSN 1540-2428 ; six issues per year). In 2003 The Washington Post ran an investigative series about
400-523: A catastrophic battle that saw the defeat of Calakmul and the capture of the image of a Calakmul deity named Yajaw Maan. It is unknown what happened to Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak'; a stucco sculpture from Tikal shows a captive and the king is mentioned in the accompanying caption but it is not certain if the captive and the king are the same person. This event marked the end of Calakmul's apogee, with diplomatic activity dropping away and fewer cities recognising Calakmul's king as overlord. No stelae remain standing in
500-409: A hieroglyphic description of the battle describing pools of blood and piles of heads. Troubles continued in the east, with renewed conflict between Naranjo and Caracol. Naranjo completely defeated Caracol in 680 but Naranjo's dynasty disappeared within two years and a daughter of B'alaj Chan K'awiil founded a new dynasty there in 682, indicating that Calakmul had probably intervened decisively to place
600-649: A large domain marked by the extensive distribution of their emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read "Kaan". Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Kingdom of the Snake or Snake Kingdom. This Snake Kingdom reigned during most of the Classic period . Calakmul itself is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 people and had governance, at times, over places as far away as 150 kilometers (93 mi). There are 6,750 ancient structures identified at Calakmul,
700-541: A large domain marked by the extensive distribution of their emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read "Kaan". Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Snake Kingdom. At times the city had governance over places as far away as 150 kilometers. At Calakmul's peak in the 7th century, the polity was known as Kan. The Preclassic political state in the Mirador Basin also used the title Kan. There
800-464: A large number of tertiary and quaternary sites, mostly fairly small and consisting of a number of groups arranged around courtyards, although there are also larger rural sites situated on ridges along the edges of the bajos that include temples, palaces and stelae . The total rural population of the kingdom is calculated at 1.5 million people. The entire population of the Calakmul kingdom, including
900-414: A loyal vassal on the throne. The patronage of Yuknoom Che'en II as overlord is recorded at a range of important cities, including El Peru where he oversaw the installation of K'inich B'alam as king and strengthened the tie with the marriage of a Calakmul princess to that king. The power of Calakmul extended as far as the north shore of Lake Petén Itzá , where Motul de San José is recorded as its vassal in
1000-593: A mission of conserving open space and wildlife preserves. The Nature Conservancy was incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization on October 22, 1951. As the organization grew, the organization focused largely on buying as much land as possible in the name of conservation with little scientific research conducted on land before being purchased. Patrick Noonan served as President from 1973 to 1980 and spearheaded major land acquisitions, fundraising and decentralized growth of state programs. In 1970
1100-469: A resurgence in its power. In 751 Ruler Z erected a stela that was never finished, paired with another with the portrait of a queen. A hieroglyphic stairway mentions someone called B'olon K'awiil at about the same time. B'olon K'awiil was king by 771 when he raised two stelae and he was mentioned at Toniná in 789. Sites to the north of Calakmul showed a reduction in its influence at this time, with new architectural styles influenced by sites further north in
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#17327906688231200-541: A ritual at Piedras Negras on the Guatemalan bank of the Usumacinta River . Yuknoom Che'en II died in his eighties, probably at the beginning of 686. When he died, Calakmul was the most powerful city in the central Maya lowlands. Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak' succeeded Yuknoom Che'en II, his crowning on 3 April 686 was recorded on monuments at Dos Pilas and El Peru. He was born in 649 and was likely to have been
1300-401: A state in any meaningful way at this late date. A final flurry of activity took place at the end of the 9th century or the beginning of the 10th. A new stela was erected, although the date records only the day, not the full date. The recorded day may fall either in 899 or 909 with the latter date the most likely. A few monuments appear to be even later although their style is crude, representing
1400-475: A vassal and Yuknoom Took' K'awiil installed a new king there at an unknown date. La Corona received a queen from Yuknoom Took'. Naranjo also remained loyal. Yuknoom Took' K'awiil commissioned seven more stelae to mark the k'atun -ending of 731. A new defeat at the hands of Tikal is evidenced by a sculpted altar at that city, probably dating to sometime between 733 and 736, depicting a bound lord from Calakmul and possibly names Yuknoom Took' K'awiil. After this
1500-423: A visit from Wamaw K'awiil of Calakmul, while Copán was one of Tikal's oldest allies. The timing of this visit by the king of Calakmul is highly significant, falling between the accession of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat to the throne of Quiriguá as a vassal of Copán and the outright rebellion that was to follow. This strongly suggests that Calakmul sponsored Quiriguá's rebellion in order to weaken Tikal and to gain access to
1600-666: Is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche , deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the Guatemalan border. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands . Calakmul was a major Maya power within the northern Petén Basin region of the Yucatán Peninsula of southern Mexico. Calakmul administered
1700-652: Is an effort to plant one billion trees across the globe in forests with the greatest need and has been operating since 2008 to plant trees in Brazil, China, Colombia, Guatemala, Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, and the United States. As part of the overall campaign, The Nature Conservancy pledged to plant 25 million trees as part of the launch of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)'s Billion Tree Campaign. This campaign encourages individuals and organizations to plant their own trees around
1800-504: Is approximately 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi) and the whole of the site, mostly covered with dense residential structures, is about 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi). Throughout the Classic Period , Calakmul maintained an intense rivalry with the major city of Tikal to the south, and the political maneuverings of these two cities have been likened to a struggle between two Maya superpowers. Rediscovered from
1900-443: Is found (once) at Dzibanché, a site more towards the east. Perhaps during the late 6th/early 7th century, the polity at Dzibanché moved to Calakmul in order to establish a more strategically placed capital. After Calakmul's power dwindled in the 8th century, after the rule of Yuknoom Took K'awiil, it appears that the bat emblem glyph made its resurgence. Still, many uncertainties remain and new epigraphical studies have to be done to fill
2000-573: Is located on a rise about 35 metres (115 ft) above a large seasonal swamp lying to the west, known as the El Laberinto bajo (a Spanish word used in the region to denote a low-lying area of seasonal marshland). This swamp measures approximately 34 by 8 kilometres (21.1 by 5.0 mi) and was an important source of water during the rainy season. The bajo was linked to a sophisticated water-control system including both natural and artificial features such as gullies and canals that encircled
2100-498: Is surrounded by an extensive network of canals and reservoirs. There are five major reservoirs, including the largest example in the Maya world, measuring 242 by 212 metres (794 by 696 ft). This reservoir is filled by a small seasonal river during the rainy season and continues to hold enough water for it to be used by archaeologists in modern times. Thirteen reservoirs have been identified at Calakmul. The combined capacity of all
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#17327906688232200-622: Is the "City of the Two Adjacent Pyramids". In ancient times the city core was known as Ox Te' Tuun , meaning "Three Stones". Another name associated with the site, and perhaps a larger area around it, is Chiik Naab' . The lords of Calakmul identified themselves as k'uhul kaanal ajaw , Divine Lords of the Snake, but the connection of the title to the actual site is ambiguous. Calakmul is located in Campeche state in southeastern Mexico, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of
2300-479: Is the idea that, after the collapse of the Mirador state, its refugees migrated north towards Calakmul, where they founded a new Kan polity. However, epigraphical studies of the monuments at Calakmul show that prior to the 7th century AD the emblem glyph of Calakmul had nothing to do with a snake, but with a bat. It seems that a different polity ruled there. The Kan emblem glyph, before being associated with Calakmul,
2400-599: Is the largest environmental non-profit organization by assets and revenue in the Americas. The Nature Conservancy developed out of a scholarly organization initially known as the Ecological Society of America (ESA). The ESA was founded in 1915, and later formed a Committee on Preservation of Natural Areas for Ecological Study, headed by Victor Shelford . The primary aim of Shelford was to find areas of land that would be beneficial for long-term research. By
2500-501: The Conservancy a model of ethical standards for nonprofit organizations. After service as The Nature Conservancy's president for one year, Brian McPeek resigned on May 31, 2019, after a report on an internal investigation of sexual harassment was revealed by Politico and two other senior executives were ultimately dismissed based on its findings. On June 7, 2019, Mark Tercek , CEO since 2008, announced his resignation following
2600-956: The Guatemala–Mexico border . They brokered the protection of 370,000 acres (1,500 km ) of tropical forest in Calakmul . In another program, TNC is working to protect wildlife habitat in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. In 2007, the Nature Conservancy made a 161,000-acre (650 km ) purchase of New York forestland from Finch Paper Holdings LLC for $ 110 million, its largest purchase ever in that state. In June 2008, The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land announced they reached an agreement to purchase approximately 320,000 acres (1,300 km ) of western Montana forestland from Plum Creek Timber Company for $ 510 million. The purchase, known as
2700-574: The Gulf oil spill . Writer and activist Naomi Klein has strongly criticized The Nature Conservancy for earning money from an oil well on land it controls in Texas and for its continued engagement with fossil fuel companies. The Nature Conservancy responded by arguing that it had no choice, under the terms of a lease it signed years prior with an oil and gas company and later came to regret. In 2020, Bloomberg published an article claiming that some of
2800-668: The Late Classic period the city is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 inhabitants and to have covered an area of over 70 square kilometres (27 sq mi). The city was the capital of a large regional state with an area of about 13,000 square kilometres (5,000 sq mi). During the Terminal Classic the city's population declined dramatically and the rural population plummeted to 10% of its former level. The Late Classic population density of Calakmul has been calculated at 1000/km (2564 per square mile) in
2900-541: The Montana Legacy Project , is part of an effort to keep these forests in productive timber management and protect the area's clean water and abundant fish and wildlife habitat, while promoting continued public access to these lands for fishing, hiking, hunting and other recreational pursuits. As a follow-on, in 2015 The Nature Conservancy made a $ 134 million transaction to purchase 165,073 acres (668.03 km ) – of forests, rivers and wildlife habitat in
3000-721: The Natural Heritage Network , a network of state natural heritage programs. The Nature Conservancy's efforts include conservation in North America , Central America , and South America , Africa , the Pacific Rim , the Caribbean , and Asia . The Nature Conservancy and its conservation partner, Pronatura Peninsula Yucatán, to halt deforestation on private lands in and around the 1.8 million acre (7,300 km ) Calakmul Biosphere Reserve , along
3100-566: The Yucatán Peninsula . A monument was raised in 790 although the name of the ruler responsible is not preserved. Two more were raised in 800 and three in 810. No monument was erected to commemorate the important Bak'tun -ending of 830 and it is probable that political authority had already collapsed at this time. Important cities such as Oxpemul , Nadzca'an and La Muñeca that were Calakmul's vassals at one time now erected their own monuments, where before they had raised very few; some continued producing new monuments until as late as 889. This
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3200-586: The 1930s, Shelford and his colleagues such as Aldo Leopold increasingly sought to advocate for conservation. The divide in viewpoints regarding scholarship or advocacy led the Society to dissolve the committee and in 1946, Shelford and his colleagues formed the Ecologists' Union. The latter group eventually took the name "The Nature Conservancy", in emulation of the British agency of that name, which pursued
3300-484: The 7th century, although it was traditionally aligned with Tikal. Yuknoom Che'en II commanded the loyalty of three generations of kings at Cancuen , 245 kilometres (152 mi) to the south, and supervised the enthronement of at least two of them, in 656 and 677. King Yuknoom Che'en II was involved, directly or indirectly, in the crowning of a king at Moral to the west in Tabasco and one of Yuknoom's nobles supervised
3400-884: The Cascade Mountain Range of Washington and in the Blackfoot River Valley in Montana. The Conservancy also acquired this land from Plum Creek, including 47,921 acres (193.93 km ) in the Yakima River Headwaters in Washington and 117,152 acres (474.10 km ) in the Lower Blackfoot River Watershed in Montana. Nature United is the Canadian affiliate of The Nature Conservancy. Nature United
3500-662: The Classic Period. Early hieroglyphic texts from stelae found in Structure 2 record the probable enthronement of a king of Calakmul in AD 411 and also records a non-royal site ruler in 514. After this there is a gap in the hieroglyphic records that lasts over a century, although the Kaan dynasty experienced a major expansion of its power at this time. The lack of inscriptions recording the events of this period may be either due to
3600-525: The Classic period when Calakmul itself was the most powerful city in the region. Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands. The history of the Maya Classic period is dominated by the rivalry between Tikal and Calakmul, likened to a struggle between two Maya "superpowers". Earlier times tended to be dominated by a single larger city and by
3700-584: The Conservancy's CEO, Jennifer Morris, charging that The Nature Conservancy was overly supportive of logging interests and the use of wood products as a natural climate solution . TNC is a member of the Forest Climate Working Group alongside wood product companies like Weyerhaeuser and Enviva , and other conservation organizations like the Trust for Public Land and American Forests . The Charity Navigator gave The Nature Conservancy
3800-620: The Early Classic Tikal was moving into this position after the dominance of El Mirador in the Late Preclassic and Nakbe in the Middle Preclassic. However Calakmul was a rival city with equivalent resources that challenged the supremacy of Tikal and engaged in a strategy of surrounding it with its own network of allies. From the second half of the 6th century AD through to the late 7th century Calakmul gained
3900-490: The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. Financing for this effort was organized by The Nature Conservancy's impact investing unit called NatureVest. NatureVest was created in 2014 with founding sponsorship from JPMorgan Chase with the stated goal of sourcing and putting to work at least $ 1 billion of impact investment capital for measurable conservation outcomes over three years. For their work on
4000-525: The Nature Conservancy with allegations of improper dealing and other improprieties that the Nature Conservancy contested. In part, the Post alleged the Conservancy had, time and again, bought ecologically significant tracts of land, attached some development restrictions and then resold the properties to trustees and supporters at greatly reduced prices. The sales were part of a program that limits intrusive development but generally allows buyers to build homes on
4100-777: The Seychelles debt restructuring , The Nature Conservancy and JPMorgan Chase were given the FT/ITC Transformational Business Award for Achievement in Transformational Finance. The award is given by the Financial Times and the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) for ground-breaking, commercially viable solutions to development challenges. The Nature Conservancy's "Plant a Billion Trees" campaign
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4200-446: The age of four, in 635, and for many years served as a loyal vassal fighting for his brother, the king of Tikal. In AD 648 Calakmul attacked Dos Pilas and gained an overwhelming victory that included the death of a Tikal lord. B'alaj Chan K'awiil was captured by Yuknoom Che'en II but, instead of being sacrificed, he was re-instated on his throne as a vassal of the Calakmul king, and went on to attack Tikal in 657, forcing Nuun Ujol Chaak,
4300-620: The air by biologist Cyrus L. Lundell of the Mexican Exploitation Chicle Company on December 29, 1931, the find was reported to Sylvanus G. Morley of the Carnegie Institute at Chichen Itza in March 1932. Calakmul is a modern name; according to Cyrus L. Lundell, who named the site, in Maya, ca means "two", lak means "adjacent", and mul signifies any artificial mound or pyramid, so Calakmul
4400-574: The area received moderate and regular rainfall, although there is less surface water available than further south in Guatemala. Calakumul is now located within the 1,800,000-acre (7,300 km ) Calakmul Biosphere Reserve . The area conserved within the Reserve was conceptualized by the Centro de Investigaciones Historicas y Sociales de Universidad Autónomous de Campeche (CIHS/UAC). At its height in
4500-427: The atmosphere and stabilize global climate. The Nature Conservancy has over one million members across the world as of 2021 . As of 2014 , it was the largest environmental non-profit organization by assets and revenue in the Americas. The Nature Conservancy has ties to many large companies, including those in the oil, gas, mining, chemical and agricultural industries. As of 2016 , its board of directors included
4600-416: The border with Guatemala and 38 kilometres (24 mi) north of the ruins of El Mirador . The ruins of El Tintal are 68 kilometres (42 mi) to the southwest of Calakmul and were linked to both El Mirador and Calakmul itself by causeway. Calakmul was about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the contemporary city of Oxpemul and approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) southwest of La Muñeca. The city
4700-546: The city itself and the rural population in the 13,000 square kilometres (5,000 sq mi) area of the regional state, is calculated at 1.75 million people in the Late Classic period. The Emblem Glyph of Calakmul has a greater distribution than the Emblem Glyph of any other Maya city. The Glyph is also found in more hieroglyphic texts than any other Emblem Glyph, including that of Tikal. Calakmul administered
4800-478: The city was within the control of the Kaan dynasty. By the middle of the 6th century AD Calakmul was assembling a far-reaching political alliance, activity that brought the city into conflict with the great city of Tikal. The influence of Calakmul extended deep into the Petén ; king Tuun K'ab' Hix of Calakmul oversaw the enthronement of Aj Wosal to the rulership of Naranjo in 546. Another vassal of Tuun K'ab' Hix
4900-515: The companies (such as JPMorgan Chase, Disney , and BlackRock ) that purchase carbon credits from The Nature Conservancy were purchasing carbon credits for forests that did not need protection. In 2021, The Nature Conservancy partnered with Amazon to compensate local farmers for restoring and protecting rainforests in Para, Brazil . In 2022, a group of 158 conservation, environmental, and social justice non-profit organizations signed an open letter to
5000-408: The death of this powerful king. Sky Witness was quickly succeeded by First Axewielder, who is mentioned in a text from Dzibanche celebrating the K'atun -ending of 573. First Axewielder ruled for about six years. In 579 Uneh Chan became king of Calakmul. Uneh Chan engaged in an aggressive campaign in the western Maya region and attacked Palenque on 23 April 599 with his ally Lakam Chak, lord of
5100-430: The deaths of the two most important nobles at the city, Ajen Yohl Mat himself and Janab Pakal , a high-ranking member of the royal family and possibly co-ruler. Janab Pakal died in March 612 and Ajen Yohl Mat a few months later. Their deaths so soon after the sacking of the city suggests that their demise was directly linked to Calakmul's triumph. Palenque suffered a lengthy decline in its fortunes after this date before it
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#17327906688235200-520: The descendants of the inhabitants of Calakmul. Calakmul was first reported by Cyrus Lundell in 1931. A year later he informed Sylvanus Morley of the site's existence and the presence of more than 60 stelae. Morley visited the ruins himself on behalf of the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1932. In the 1930s surveys mapped the site core and recorded 103 stelae. Investigations stopped in 1938 and archaeologists did not return to
5300-432: The east and he is depicted on Caracol Stela 4 supervising an event involving king Yajaw Te' K'inich of that city that occurred before 583. Calakmul again sacked Palenque on 7 April 611 under the personal direction of Uneh Chan. Palenque was now ruled by king Ajen Yohl Mat who had gained some sort of independence from Calakmul, provoking the new invasion. The immediate aftermath of this second victory over Palenque involved
5400-525: The efforts of a remnant population to maintain the Classic Maya tradition. Even the inscriptions on these late monuments are meaningless imitations of writing. Ceramics dating to the Terminal Classic period are uncommon outside of the site core, suggesting that the population of the city was concentrated in the city centre in the final phase of Calakmul's occupation. The majority of the surviving population probably consisted of commoners who had occupied
5500-410: The elite architecture of the site core but the continued erection of stelae into the early 10th century and the presence of high status imported goods such as metal, obsidian, jade and shell, indicate a continued occupation by royalty until the final abandonment of the city. The Yucatec -speaking Kejache Maya who lived in the region at the time of Spanish contact in the early 16th century may have been
5600-459: The fact that the Kaan dynasty was located elsewhere during this time or perhaps that the monuments were later destroyed. The earliest legible texts referring to the kings of the Kaan dynasty come from excavations of the large city of Dzibanche in Quintana Roo , far north of Calakmul. A hieroglyphic stairway depicts bound captives, their names and the dates they were captured together with
5700-654: The finalization of the first ever debt swap in Seychelles aimed at ocean conservation. The new protected area increases the country's marine protected waters from less than 1 percent to more than 30 percent including support for the creation of the second largest Marine Protected Area in the Western Indian Ocean. The debt swap deal was made possible through a partnership with the Seychelles Ministry of Finance, support of debt-holding nations including France, and grants from private organizations led by
5800-537: The gaps. Calakmul has a long occupational history and excavations have revealed evidence from the Middle Preclassic right through to the Postclassic . The causeway network that linked Calakmul with the cities of El Mirador, Nakbe and El Tintal suggest strong political links between the four cities that may have begun in the Preclassic, when both Calakmul and El Mirador were important cities, and continued into
5900-560: The general public, but permission to enter may be granted for research projects and groups—contact the preserve manager. Birds here are typical of this stretch of the river—many of the birds can be found at the public access crossings along the river both north and south of the property. The money for the project was acquired through the Roosevelt Lake Mitigation project from the Salt River Project . In
6000-431: The ground and three more identified with remote sensing . They have been numbered as Sacbe 1 through to Sacbe 7. The causeway network not only linked Calakmul with local satellite sites but also with more distant allies and rivals, such as the great cities of El Mirador, El Tintal and Nakbe. Those causeways that cross swampy land are elevated above the surrounding wetland and they now tend to support denser vegetation than
6100-533: The historical record of Calakmul becomes very vague, due both to the poor state of the heavily eroded monuments at the city itself and also its reduced political presence on the wider Maya stage. Wamaw K'awiil is named at Quiriguá on the southern periphery of Mesoamerica. Quiriguá traditionally had been a vassal of its southern neighbour Copán , and in 724 Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil , king of Copán, installed K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat upon Quiriguá's throne as his vassal. By 734 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat had shown that he
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#17327906688236200-420: The intense competition between the two powers may have had an ideological grounding. Calakmul's dynasty seems ultimately derived from the great Preclassic city of El Mirador while the dynasty of Tikal was profoundly affected by the intervention of the distant central Mexican metropolis of Teotihuacan . With few exceptions, Tikal's monuments and those of its allies place great emphasis upon single male rulers while
6300-535: The king. Yuknoom Che'en II was probably responsible for the construction of the palace complexes that form a major part of the site core. In 629 Tikal had founded Dos Pilas in the Petexbatún region, some 110 kilometres (68 mi) to its southwest, as a military outpost in order to control trade along the course of the Pasión River . B'alaj Chan K'awiil was installed on the throne of the new outpost at
6400-696: The land. The buyers then gave the Conservancy cash that was roughly equivalent to the amount of the discounts. That allowed the new owners to take significant tax deductions for charitable gifts. The Nature Conservancy suspended a range of practices shortly after the articles ran including these sales, licensing its logo to corporations whose executives sat on the Conservancy's governing board and council, all new logging and other "resource extraction activities" such as oil and gas drilling on its nature preserves, and all new loans to employees. The Conservancy launched an independent review that issued its final report in 2004, calling for sweeping reforms aimed at making
6500-474: The largest of which is the great pyramid at the site. Structure 2 is over 45 metres (148 ft) high, making it one of the tallest of the Maya pyramids . Four tombs have been located within the pyramid. Like many temples or pyramids within Mesoamerica the pyramid at Calakmul increased in size by building upon the existing temple to reach its current size. The size of the central monumental architecture
6600-405: The monuments of Calakmul and its allies gave greater prominence to the female line and often the joint rule of king and queen . Calakmul was already a large city in the Preclassic period. The early history of Calakmul is obscure, although a dynastic list has been pieced together that extends back into an ancestral past. This dynasty has been reconstructed in part from Late Classic ceramics from
6700-417: The name of king Yuknoom Che'en I, although the exact context of the king's name is unclear - the captives may have been his vassals captured by an enemy or they may have been rulers captured by the king of Calakmul. The dates are uncertain but two of them may fall within the 5th century AD. The nearby Quintana Roo site of El Resbalón has a jumbled hieroglyphic text, including a date in 529, that indicates that
6800-399: The name of the king responsible is illegible on all of them and he has been labelled as Ruler Y. Calakmul's presence in the wider Maya area continued to wane, with two of the city's major allies suffering defeats at the hands of Tikal. El Peru was defeated in 743 and Naranjo a year later and this resulted in the final collapse of Calakmul's once powerful alliance network, while Tikal underwent
6900-457: The names of the royal couple involved. Approximately at this time Naranjo, a vassal of Calakmul, broke away when its king Aj Wosal died relatively soon after the death of Uneh Chan of Calakmul. Naranjo was independent of Calakmul by at least AD 626, when it was twice defeated by Caracol and Yuknoom Chan may have been attempting to bring Naranjo back under Calakmul control. His attempts were brought to an end by his death in 630. In 631 Yuknoom Head,
7000-403: The new king of Calakmul, finally regained control of Naranjo. Texts relate that the king of Naranjo was already captive at Calakmul on the day that his city was overrun and his punishment on the very same day is described by the word k'uxaj ( /k’uːˈʃäχ/ ) meaning either "tortured" or "eaten". Yuknoom Head conquered another city in March 636, although the exact site is unknown. The Kaan dynasty
7100-474: The organization hired its first staff scientist, Robert E. Jenkins Jr., who helped the organization refocus its mission to conserving natural diversity. With Noonan's support, in 1974 Jenkins began to partner with state governments to develop state-by-state inventories which assembled and stored data on the "elements" of nature (e.g. rare species and natural communities) and on "element occurrences" (the specific locations where they occur), which later morphed into
7200-469: The region of great Preclassic cities of El Mirador and Nakbe. This may mean that Calakmul ultimately inherited its political authority from one of these cities, with its dynasty originating in the Late Preclassic in the Mirador Basin and relocating itself to Calakmul in the Classic period after the collapse of these cities. Both Calakmul and Tikal were sizeable Preclassic cities that survived into
7300-451: The remains of roughly 1000 structures. The periphery occupied by smaller residential structures beyond the site core covers an area of more than 20 square kilometres (7.7 sq mi) within which archaeologists have mapped approximately 6250 structures. Calakmul matches the great city of Tikal in size and estimated population, although the density of the city appears to have been greater than that city. The stone used in construction at
7400-475: The reservoirs is estimated at over 200,000,000 litres (44,000,000 imp gal). This quantity of water could have supported 50,000 to 100,000 people; there is no evidence that the reservoirs were used to irrigate crops. Aguada 1 is the largest of the reservoirs and has a surface area of 5 hectares (540,000 sq ft). Eight sacbe (causeways) have been located around Calakmul. Two of these have been mapped, three have been identified visually on
7500-607: The resignation of McPeek. On June 10, Luis Solorzano, executive director of The Nature Conservancy's Florida-based Caribbean chapter, became the fifth senior official to depart the organization. On June 11, The Nature Conservancy's board chairman Thomas J. Tierney announced that board member and former US Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell would serve as interim CEO, effective September 2019. Calakmul Calakmul ( / ˌ k ɑː l ɑː k ˈ m uː l / ; also Kalakmul and other less frequent variants)
7600-453: The retired chairman of Duke Energy , and executives from Merck , HP , Google and several financial industry groups. It also has a Business Council which it describes as a consultative forum that includes Bank of America , BP America , Chevron , Coca-Cola , Dow Chemical , Duke Energy , General Mills , Royal Dutch Shell , and Starbucks . The organization faced criticism in 2010 from supporters for its refusal to cut ties with BP after
7700-486: The rich trade route of the Motagua Valley . It is likely that contact with Calakmul had been initiated soon after K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat acceded to the throne. In 738 K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat captured the powerful but elderly king of Copán, Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil. An inscription at Quiriguá, although difficult to interpret, suggests that the capture took place on 27 April 738, when Quiriguá seized and burned
7800-554: The royal dynasty at Tikal. This catastrophic defeat began a 130-year hiatus for Tikal, reflecting an extended period of dominance by Calakmul. This event is used as a marker to divide the Early Classic from the Late Classic. Sky Witness is also mentioned at Okop , a site much further north in Quintana Roo. The last reference to Sky Witness occurs at Caracol and is dated to AD 572. The text is damaged but probably records
7900-623: The site core and 420/km (1076 per square mile) in the periphery (an area of 122 square kilometres (47 sq mi). Calakmul was a true urban city and not just an elite centre surrounded by commoner residences. The site core of Calakmul was known in ancient times as Ox Te' Tuun ("Three Stones") which may have been because of the triadic pyramid Structure 2. The Calakmul kingdom included 20 secondary centres, among which were large cities such as La Muñeca, Naachtun , Sasilha , Oxpemul and Uxul . The total population of these secondary centres has been estimated at 200,000. The kingdom also included
8000-481: The site core recording Yuknoom Yich'aal K'ak, although there are some in the Northeast Group and 2 broken stelae were buried in Structure 2. The next ruler of Calakmul, Split Earth, is mentioned on a pair of carved bones in the tomb of Tikal king Jasaw Chan K'awiil I. He was ruling by November 695 but it is not known if he was a legitimate member of the Calakmul dynasty or whether he was a pretender placed on
8100-578: The site is a soft limestone . This has resulted in severe erosion of the site's sculpture. The city of Calakmul was built in a strongly concentric fashion and can be divided into zones as one moves outwards from the centre of the site. The innermost zone covers an area of approximately 1.75 square kilometres (0.68 sq mi) It contains most of the monumental architecture and has 975 mapped structures, about 300 of which are built from vaulted stone masonry. About 92 structures were built on large pyramids laid out around plazas and courtyards. The city's core
8200-567: The site until 1982 when William J. Folan directed a project on behalf of the Universidad Autónoma de Campeche , working at Calakmul until 1994. Calakmul is now the subject of a large-scale project of the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) under the direction of Ramón Carrasco. The site core of Calakmul covers an area of approximately 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi), an area that contains
8300-455: The small city of Santa Elena 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of Palenque, defeating Palenque's queen Lady Yohl Ik'nal and sacking the city. The defeat is recorded on a series of hieroglyphic steps at Palenque itself and the event initiated a long-lasting grudge against Calakmul. Lady Yohl Ik'nal survived the battle and ruled for several more years, although she perhaps paid tribute to Calakmul. Uneh Chan maintained his alliances with cities in
8400-401: The son of his predecessor. He already held high office before he was named king and may have been responsible for the major successes of the latter part of Yuknoom Che'en II's reign. He retained the loyalty of K'inich B'alam of El Peru and B'alaj Chan K'awiil of Dos Pilas and gained that of K'ak' Tiliw Chan Chaak in 693, when he was installed on the throne of Naranjo at the age of five. However,
8500-762: The summer of 2005, it was nearly burnt to the ground as part of the Great Dudleyville Fire of that year. Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy ( TNC ) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia . As of 2021, it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Nature Conservancy has over one million members globally as of 2021 and has protected more than 119 million acres (48 million ha) of land in its history. As of 2014, it
8600-459: The texts on sculpted monuments do not reveal the full complexity of diplomatic activity, as revealed by a painted ceramic vase from Tikal, which depicts an ambassador of Calakmul's king kneeling before the enthroned king of Tikal and delivering tribute. Just four years later, in August 695, the two states were once again at war. Yuknoom Yich'aak K'ak' led his warriors against Jasaw Chan K'awiil I in
8700-839: The then king of Tikal, to temporarily abandon the city. The first two rulers of Dos Pilas continued to use the Mutal emblem glyph of Tikal, and they probably felt that they had a legitimate claim to the throne of Tikal itself. For some reason, B'alaj Chan K'awiil was not installed as the new ruler of Tikal; instead he stayed at Dos Pilas. Tikal counterattacked against Dos Pilas in 672, driving B'alaj Chan K'awiil into an exile that lasted five years. Calakmul tried to encircle Tikal within an area dominated by its allies, such as El Peru , Dos Pilas and Caracol. In 677 Calakmul counterattacked against Dos Pilas, driving Tikal out and reinstalled B'alaj Chan K'awiil on his throne. In 679 Dos Pilas, probably aided by Calakmul, gained an important victory over Tikal, with
8800-413: The throne by Tikal. The next known king used a number of name variants, and is referred to by different name segments within and outside of Calakmul. A partial reading of his name is Yuknoom Took' K'awiil. He erected seven stelae to celebrate a calendrical event in 702 and is named at Dos Pilas in that year, presumably demonstrating that Dos Pilas was still a vassal of Calakmul. El Peru also continued as
8900-513: The upper hand although it failed to extinguish Tikal's power completely and Tikal was able to turn the tables on its great rival in a decisive battle that took place in AD 695. Half a century later Tikal was able to gain major victories over Calakmul's most important allies. Eventually both cities succumbed to the spreading Classic Maya collapse . The great rivalry between these two cities may have been based on more than competition for resources. Their dynastic histories reveal different origins and
9000-445: The wooden images of Copán's patron deities . The captured lord was taken back to Quiriguá and on 3 May 738 he was decapitated in a public ritual. In the Late Classic, alliance with Calakmul was frequently associated with the promise of military support. The fact that Copán, a much more powerful city than Quiriguá, failed to retaliate against its former vassal implies that it feared the military intervention of Calakmul. Calakmul itself
9100-430: The world and record this action on the website as a tally. Its "Plant a Billion Trees" campaign in Brazil aims to restore Brazil's Atlantic Forest by planting native trees on 2.5 million acres (10,000 km ) that have been deforested . The Plant a Billion Trees campaign has also been identified as a tool to help slow climate change with forest restoration being an effective way to help regulate emissions in
9200-402: Was a process that paralleled events at Tikal. However, there is strong evidence of an elite presence at the city continuing until AD 900, possibly even later. In 849, Calakmul was mentioned at Seibal where a ruler named as Chan Pet attended the K'atun -ending ceremony; his name may also be recorded on a broken ceramic at Calakmul itself. However, it is unlikely that Calakmul still existed as
9300-480: Was able to recover from its disastrous war with Calakmul. The wars against Palenque may have been undertaken by Uneh Chan in order to seize control of wealthy trade routes that passed through the western Maya region. King Yuknoom Chan of Calakmul supervised an event at Caracol in 619. Caracol Stela 22 records the accession of Tajoom Uk'ab' K'ak' to the Calakmul throne in 622. Two stelae were erected at Calakmul in 623 but their texts are too badly damaged to reveal
9400-464: Was artificially levelled by the Maya. During the Preclassic and Classic periods settlement was concentrated along the edge of the El Laberinto bajo , during the Classic period structures were also built on high ground and small islands in the swamp where flint was worked. At the beginning of the 21st century the area around Calakmul remained covered by dense forest. During the 1st millennium AD
9500-415: Was bordered on the north side by a 6-metre (20 ft) high wall that controlled access from the north and may also have had a defensive function. Many commoners residences were built along the edge of El Laberinto swamp to the west of the site core, although some high-status residences and public buildings were interspersed among these. The area between the residences was used for horticulture. The site
9600-429: Was far enough away from Quiriguá that K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat was not afraid of falling directly under its power as a full vassal state, even though it is likely that Calakmul sent warriors to help in the defeat of Copán. The alliance instead seems to have been one of mutual advantage: Calakmul managed to weaken a powerful ally of Tikal while Quiriguá gained its independence. Five large stelae were raised in 741, although
9700-701: Was founded as a Canadian charity in 2014, building on decades of conservation in Canada. Headquartered in Toronto, the organization has field staff located across the country. Nature United supports Indigenous leadership, sustainable economic development, and large-scale conservation, primarily in the Great Bear Rainforest, Clayoquot Sound, the Northwest Territories, and northern Manitoba. In December 2015, The Nature Conservancy announced
9800-420: Was no longer an obedient subordinate of Copán when he started to refer to himself as k'ul ahaw , holy lord, instead of using the lesser term ahaw , subordinate lord; at the same time he began to use his own Quiriguá emblem glyph . This local act of rebellion appears to have been part of the larger political struggle between Tikal and Calakmul. In 736, only two years later, K'ak' Tiliw Chan Yopaat received
9900-506: Was not originally established at Calakmul but rather re-located there in the 7th century from another city. Calakmul experienced its highest achievements during the reign of king Yuknoom Che'en II, sometimes called Yuknoom the Great by scholars. Yuknoom Che'en II was 36 years old when he came to the throne of Calakmul in AD 636. A significant increase in the production of stelae at the city began with his reign and 18 stelae were commissioned by
10000-525: Was taken captive by Yaxchilan on the banks of the Usumacinta River in 537. In 561, the king now known as Sky Witness installed a ruler at the site of Los Alacranes . Sky Witness played a major part in the political events of the Maya region. He became the overlord of the city of Caracol , to the south of Naranjo, which had previously been a vassal of Tikal. In 562, according to a damaged text at Caracol, Sky Witness defeated Tikal itself and sacrificed its king Wak Chan K'awiil , thus ending his branch of
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