The park's main attraction is the ruined city of the Maya Indians reflecting the cultural evolution of Mayan society from hunter- gathering to farming, with an elaborate religious, artistic and scientific culture which finally collapsed in the late 9th century. There are over 3,000 separate buildings dating from the period 600 BC to 900 AD, including temples, residences, religious monuments decorated with hyeroglyphic inscriptions and tombs. Excavations have yielded remains of cotton, tobacco, beans, pumpkins, peppers and many fruits of Precolumbian origin. Large areas are still to be excavated. Small scale agriculture, artisanal fishing, forest dwelling, gathering and hunting are the main activities in the Multiple Use Zone of the reserve, and villages and farmland surround the park.
Crops grown include maize, beans, sweet potato and citrics 'malangu' and 'guicoy'.
There are annual burnings of grazing areas, either before or at the beginning of the rainy season, for the regeneration of pasture lands. Research has centred on the evolution of the Mayan culture. Other studies have been conducted on the protection of the endangered ocellated turkey, sedimentation, and social sciences. Historia is leading archaeological research in the reserve. Studies are ongoing on aquaculture, limnology and hydrology, pests and diseases, and soils.