The Reserve and the contiguous forested areas of the Maya Biosphere Reserve "(Reserva de la Biosfera Maya)" in the Guatemalan department of El Petén form one of the largest and least disturbed tracts of rainforest in the Americas north of Colombia. The forest is classified as dry forest to the west and tall and medium-height subperennial rainforest to the east. Among the trees, there are ceibas, Honduras mahogany ("Swietenia macrophylla"), strangler figs ("Ficus"), chaká ("Bursera simaruba"), and chicle or chicozapote ("Manilkara chicle").