The Mayan temple complex of Tikal draws planeloads of visitors to Guatemala's Petén region daily, making it far and away the country's top tourist attraction. But while the tourists leave satisfied, Marco Palacios is not. "They come in the morning and leave in the afternoon," grumbles this champion of conservation and designer of an IDB-funded sustainable development program that aims to protect the region's natural and archeological resources. "They should stay for a week. We have attractions here unmatched anywhere in the world."

Among them are at least a thousand Mayan archeological sites, only a handful of which have been studied and restored. A greater number have been looted, and the vast majority reveal themselves only as aberrations in the jungle topography: steep little hills covered with trees and vines that hardly qualify as tourist destinations. Visiting these less-known sites often means first getting acquainted with axle-deep mud or enduring long trips by horseback or uncomfortable river boats.

The new program aims to change this. By funding the restoration of other major ruins and supporting projects to improve access and small-scale tourism infrastructure, visitors will come to see Tikal, but stay to go on archeological safaris that combine visits to other sites with tours of the forest.

Perils of neglect. Work is already underway at several sites. One is Aguateca, a one-hour boat ride up the Río Petexbatún. There, archeologist Erick Ponciano leads visitors up a slippery hillside, past a camp of blue polytarps, to a vast plaza shaded by giant trees and ringed with pyramidal hills.

He pauses at a fallen stella, a slab of stone with bas relief figures bordered with hieroglyphics, and points to a thin cut. This was the work of a thief, whose efforts to divide the stone into transportable pieces had been interrupted, at least for the time being. The theft probably had been commissioned by a wealthy collector who wanted this specific stella. Once the Aguateca site is developed, the permanent presence of community members acting as guards and guides will minimize this kind of problem.

Near Tikal is Yaxhá, another concentration of monuments where restoration is proceeding with the support of the German government. The site promises to be at least as impressive as Tikal.

Archeological and restoration teams have already hired many local people, and in coming years, many more will find work building rest centers, docks and access roads. Others will guide tourists, man refreshment stands, restaurants and information booths and staff restaurants and hotels. Still more will start their own small tourist-related businesses.

"I can count 50 small-scale industries based on tourism," says Palacios. "They will give local people the opportunity to earn a living by means other than farming, which will both improve their quality of life and protect the Petén's immense patrimony."