As any chocolate lover can imagine, cocoa sells at a good price these days, meaning the growers can use the extra income to improve their lives. That's particularly important in poor areas, such as the communities surrounding the Sierra del Lacandón National Park in Pe...

Imagine not having water in school to wash your hands, or carrying buckets from a well to clean floors and surfaces. Up until recently that was the situation in four schools, (and many others), on the southern side of Sierra de las Minas. But thanks to the new rainwate...

Many years ago people came in search of minerals to Sierra de las Minas (“the Mining Sierra”), as its Spanish name indicates. Today, people should come for another resource, even more important: the biodiversity and the scenic beauty of this mountain range in eastern G...

30 years ago a passionate elementary teacher and her students in Sweden raised one million dollars to buy a rainforest in Guatemala. Their 675-hectare piece of land was part of what would become the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve. Mrs. Eha Kern, the now retired...

How can a village stop the extinction of a species? Well, we think we´ve got it figured out. The green iguanas (Iguana iguana) are not only important to the ecosystem, but also to the people living near them because they prevent some species of insects and rodents from...

The first 9 Scarlet Macaws (Ara macao cyanoptera) that were raised in captivity in the Scarlet Macaw Reproduction Program were recently released in the Sierra del Lacandón National Park, Guatemala. These macaws will support the rapidly declining population in Central A...

Please use the link to open our latest newsletter: http://eepurl.com/btfDgL

           If it makes economic sense to plant trees, wouldn´t more people reforest their land? Indeed they would. In Guatemala landowners are paid annually to reforest an area through a program supported by the government´s Forestry Institute, INAB. However, the appli...

New crops provide better nutrition and can be sold for a higher price than commonly planted crops such as corn and beans. That’s why we help the communities set up “backyard orchards” and diversify their crops, as part of the BIOFORESA program, implemented in Sierra de...

 Gradually, the river becomes smaller and smaller until we have to duck our heads not to get smashed by heavy branches. The tunnel of greenery winds through the wetlands of Bocas del Polochic, at Lake Izabal, Guatemala. The driver tilts the engine so we won't get caugh...