Seeking ways to protect an endangered Guatemalan rainforest from the devastating effects of tourism and slash-and-burn agriculture, Conservation International (CI) will donate $35 million for a research center in the area, the Associated Press reports.

Supported by high-profile donors including actor Harrison Ford and Intel cofounder Gordon Moore, the new center will be built in the Mayan Biosphere, the largest tropical forest and wetland area in Central America, AP reports.

The biosphere is seven times larger in area than America's Yosemite National Park.

While the area is protected under Guatemalan law, CI claims the Mayan Biosphere is being hurt by illegal poaching, tourism and "antagonistic" agricultural practices, AP reports.

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