Entomology group indexing specimens in ranch classroom

Located in a pocket of Mountain Cloud Forest In Mexico...

El Cielo cloud forest
Rancho del Cielo is located in an isolated pocket of mountain cloud forest in the southern part of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Within a twenty mile radius, eight distinct forest ecosystems can be found. The "El Cielo" cloud forest offers students an opportunity to study a tremendous diversity of both plant and animal species. The forest is a unique mixture of northern and southern flora and fauna that occurs nowhere else in the western hemisphere. In this area, it is common to see sugar maples more typical of Vermont growing side by side with species of oak and palm from South America.

The "El Cielo" area is considered so important to the floral and faunal history of North America that it was protected under the guidelines of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere program of the United Nations.

The area is now restricted and closed to the public. However, as a testimony to our proven role in scientific study and conservation, the Mexican government has granted Gorgas Science Foundation and Texas Southmost College permission to continue their program within this reserve.


Researching the forest canopy

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