For the past 25 years, Heaton has been preserving a tract of Guatemalan rainforest on the riverbanks of the Rio Tatin, which is a tributary of the Rio Dulce. There, he has designed and built Rancho Corozal, a light footprint environmentally sustainable jungle-river outpost, using locally sourced materials. Rancho Corozal has been featured in publications such as Harper's Bazaar, Condé Nast Traveler, Departures, and Architectural Digest, among others. These publications have highlighted the intrinsic beauty of the area and the potential for respectful eco-tourism development as a means of support, as well as a model of tropical architecture for the local communities.