Community Management of the Bio-Itza Reserve Project

The project would assist Bio-Itza and Conservation International Guatemala to conserve and sustainable manage a sizable piece of land of great biological significance next to Tikal National Park, and other important areas in the central region of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, one of the largest reserves in Guatemala. It would empower indigenous communities to strengthen control of their land and manage it over the long term. Proposed activities include: capacity building of the Bio-Itza association, (b) creation and implementation of s strategy and management plan for the protection of the Bio-Itza reserve; (c) creation and implementation of a socio-economic and biodiversity M&E plan; (d) creation and implementation of an information, training and research center, providing training on traditional production systems and adequate information on the state of biodiversity in the reserve and its surroundings and the impacts of natural resource uses such as tourism, non-timber forest products, timber, etc.; and (e) project management and monitoring