Help Restore the Maya Golden Landscape

Under the theme “Empowering Communities, Conserving Biodiversity, Connecting the World”, Ya’axché Conservation Trust brought together three hundred stakeholders via two signature annual community events, celebrating locally led actions in the Maya Golden Landscape. Ya’axché’s summer camp and the  farmers expo provided spaces for women, men, youths, and children to engage with each other, showcase their work, exchange knowledge, and recognize local champions.  

During summer camp, fifty youths of five environmental clubs from Trio, Bladen, Medina Bank, Golden Stream, and Big Falls in Toledo dived into concepts of climate change, watershed health and management, protected areas management, and climate-smart agricultural practices. Through hands-on exercises and the use of media technology and gadgets, youths developed skills in conservation storytelling, positioning them to educate, build-awareness and advocate for community-based actions. Club members told their locally led action stories via reels, photo-stories, and short videos. The conservation-themed media products told stories of youths conducting water quality monitoring of their rivers within the Maya Golden Landscape, clean ups in their communities, tree planting in degraded areas of their communities, and monitoring of wildlife on their farmlands. Stories were developed from brainstorming exercises to identify story types, key messages, and visual ideas, coupled with sessions in photography and videography. Campers relied on smart phones, tablets, microphones, and digital cameras to record videos, audios and take photos to convey their stories. These stories will be posted on Ya’axché’s website and shared with the wider community via informational sharing in 2026.

Ya’axché in collaboration with the Big Falls Village Council, hosted the Ya’axché’s Farmers Expo, where smallholder, including families, gathered to celebrate exemplary climate-smart agricultural practices across the MGL. Female Farmer of the Year was awarded to Ms. Eberlee Sho of Hicatee while Male Farmer of the Year was awarded to Mr. Manuel Coc of Golden Stream Village. Junior Farmer of the Year was awarded to Ms. Nancy Perez of Trio Village. Beyond individual recognition, Ya’axché also acknowledged the important role of organized community groups in advancing sustainable agriculture and community well-being. Three groups honored included the Trio Farmers Cacao Growers, Green Creek Farmers’ Cooperative, and the Aguacate Conservation & Development Community.

The events were filled with community fun, games for all ages and a diversity of prizes, celebrating the network of farmers, building community engagement, contributing to  biodiversity conservation, and enhancing sustainable livelihoods in southern Belize. These community events are made possible through the support of our donors, local and international, who contribute to keeping our forests and restoring key degraded areas.

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