El Pilar Forest Gardens Network
Our informal network is focused on lowland Mesoamerica from Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico. The core group in Belize collaborates and shares their knowledge, skills, and seeds through community projects, a model primary school garden called Känan K’aax, and in their own forest gardens. The team envisions cultivating school gardens throughout the Maya forest.
Our Goals
Education
Show the importance of learning in gardens through interactive learning and community knowledge sharing
Outreach
Promoting gardening through media, presentations, and exhibits
Model Garden
Teaching about the Maya forest garden through hands-on experiences at the Känan K’aax school garden in Cayo, Belize
Sustainability
Building soil fertility and reducing erosion by reincorporating organic material into the soil
Conservation
Promoting biodiversity and building forest resilience with the propagation of food forests
Climate Change
Creating food sovereignty by growing your own food
Our Proud Efforts
School Garden & Garden Tours
We created an active forest garden at the primary school to re-introduce forest gardening to children. We offer public forest garden tours to show the creative approaches to forest gardening.
Education Outreach
A group of environmentalists from Sacred Heart Junior College helped bridge the generation gap between older Maya farmers and a new generation of potential forest gardeners.
El Pilar Archeological Reserve
Maintaining a forest garden at the ancient Maya site of El Pilar to contribute to the living environment and educate visitors on Maya life-ways
Our Team
Local Members
On-site in Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico, we are involved in educational venues at schools, displays and festivals, and lectures and programs.
Regional Members
Regionally, we participate in conferences and promotions on conservation and development.
International Members
Internationally, we use our website to promote Maya forest gardening and look to expanding our network
We could not do it without
Paul Bailly
Deceased
Anselmo Casteneda
Deceased
Elias Awe
Deceased
Your Support Grows the Earth
Stand up for the conservation of the Maya forest gardening tradition. Your support will help this valuable knowledge survive for centuries to come, while helping us cultivate solutions for our global environmental crisis.
Maya Forest Gardeners is a project of Exploring Solutions Past, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and all donations are fully tax-deductible.