Feb 16, 2021 The Balance Between Conservation and Economic Activity in Protected Areas The area is called “The Maya Golden Landscape,” and it’s the site of an exciting partnership between those working to maintain Belize’s healthy natural ecosystems and southern cacao farmers. News Five’s reporter Andrea Polanco recently joined personnel from the Ya’axche Conservation Trust and the Ministry of Sustainable Development to see how farming in this protected area is yielding results for both Mayan families and local biodiversity.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting Deep in the Maya Golden Landscape – a forested area that expands from the mountains to the coast of Belize – there is important conservation working taking place – but there are also farmers whose livelihoods are thriving inside this forest. It’s a partnership led by Ya’axche Conservation Trust – where natural resources are being used sustainably to support Mayan families across several communities. YCT introduced the farmers to cacao-based agro-forestry in the jungles of the Maya Golden Landscape to share new ways of farming where forests don’t have to be cut down.