Guatemala just made a bold move to save one of Central America’s most threatened forests. The country is shutting down its main oil operation and replacing it with a military and police base dedicated to protecting the Maya Biosphere Reserve from criminal activity.

The Xan oil field is located within Laguna del Tigre National Park, a massive protected area in northern Guatemala that has been losing forest at an alarming rate. Instead of renewing the oil company’s contract, which expired in August, officials decided the land would be better used as a headquarters for fighting illegal cattle ranching, logging, and drug trafficking.

Guatemala has amazing forests, this is great news and undoubtedly investing in protecting Guatemala’s rich environmental treasures as they are will pay back in major dividends to Guatemala.