The coastal area of Belize is an out­stand­ing nat­ur­al sys­tem con­sist­ing of the largest bar­ri­er reef in the north­ern hemi­sphere, off­shore atolls, sev­er­al hun­dred sand cays, man­grove forests, coastal lagoons and estu­ar­ies. The system‘s sev­en sites illus­trate the evo­lu­tion­ary his­to­ry of reef devel­op­ment and are a sig­nif­i­cant habi­tat for threat­ened species, includ­ing marine tur­tles, man­a­tees and the Amer­i­can marine croc­o­dile.