 The protected area comprises 520,000 acres (210,326 ha) The Maderas del Carmen is part of a bi-lateral conservation project called the El Carmen—Big Bend Conservation Corridor Initiative which includes contiguous land designated for conservation on both sides of the border totaling more than 3 million acres (1.2 million ha), an area almost as large as the U.S. state of Connecticut.In 2005, Maderas del Carmen became the first designated Wilderness area in Latin America.The Maderas del Carmen Protected Area was created in 1994, although conservation efforts were initially slowed because the land was privately owned, either in large ranches or in the collective farms called ejidos.