Maya Households in Conejo Get Food Baskets

It’s the season for pantry and food baskets. And, this year in the Toledo District, one Q’eqchi Maya village received something in every household, courtesy of the community forestry enterprise. Rax Mu Qiche, a sustainable forestry business owned and operated by the Conejo community near the Sarstoon Temash National Park, shared the proceeds of a successful year with residents. According to the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, Conejo’s model combines Maya customary values and traditional natural resource management with sound business practices. They use data-based forest management and provide income for different skills among the communities, from bookkeeping, security and logging, to taking the forest inventory. This year, a UN review of two hundred and fifty studies demonstrated the effectiveness of Indigenous forest management to reduce deforestation– when given alternative opportunities to feed their families.