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The El Pilar Program has attracted an international, multidisciplinary team with the momentum to evolve a unique plan. This plan incorporates local community understanding, a government conservation and development agenda, and international environmental concerns through an integrated research program that informs a model development plan centered around the ancient Maya center of El Pilar.
The first Mesa Redonda (Jan 1997) identified the research and development issues, the international strategies to promote the studies, and the collaborative institutional framework that would secure the reserve area for the research and development program. Since this landmark event, there have been great strides towards implementing aspects of the program. The Mesa Redonda II (May 1998) brought together the emerging team to further the unique program of research and development at El Pilar in both Belize and Guatemala.
The core of the El Pilar vision comes from archaeological research on the evolution of the ancient Maya landscape. The essence of this program acknowledges that clues to sustaining the complex habitats of today's Maya forest environment are embedded in Maya history. Ancient Maya settlement and local community patterns provide material evidence for the evolution of sustainable economies in one of the planet's last frontiers: the tropics.
The goals of the multidisciplinary research and development program are to demonstrate the critical relevance of basic research to promotion of conservation and development around the world today. The outcome will influence the application of a reserve management plan that will conserve environmental diversity and preserve the irreplaceable cultural heritage of both the ancient and contemporary populations in the region.
Traditional agricultural systems in the tropics world-wide are as complex as the environment within which they developed. Mimicking the forest structure, a polycultivation system evolved to minimize instability, prevent degradation and integrate both intensive and extensive labor techniques that maximize production. Heterogeneous and bio-diverse, the forest gardens constituted the strength of the Maya community in the past, as they do today, by relying on the traditional knowledge of local farming households.
Combining research designs of agronomists with those of traditional farmers from the area, this forest garden can form a model of ancient Maya land use that will provide an ongoing source of innovation for the community. Such a design that uses ancient Maya settlement patterns and agricultural knowledge can foster resource conservation that aligns with, rather than opposes, the natural regenerative processes of the tropical forest.
A cooperative association has been established with Amigos de El Pilar. Their goal is to develop community enterprises in tourism and agriculture that increase villagers' economic stake in the reserve. Through education and participation, the links between the community and the reserve will strengthen local investments in conservation and develop administrative responsibility. The leadership role villagers are assuming and the self-determination they are gaining in the process is the foundation upon which the future success of the El Pilar model depends.
The program has promoted education and training workshops, given lectures and tours, and encouraged participation in the archaeological research. Further, the program has hosted events, such as the Fiesta El Pilar, that has elevated the visibility of El Pilar on the global front, that provide a springboard for tourism development.
Park management is fundamental to the long-term research and development plan as well as to the reserve's future. Informed designs are based on cultural and ecological research. Further, identification of stakeholders, incorporation of public interests, articulation of the mission, and a clear set of objectives for the sustainable management of the reserve is essential. Finally, the extent of conservation goals, issues of access and education, and the long-term funding needs must be developed.
The El Pilar vision must include the concerns and desires for both resource conservation and economic development. Short-term strategies for community involvement and long-term concerns for conservation of the ancient architecture and the environment are vital. Educational and interpretive strategy for the park and surrounding landscape are also important. These facets are all dependent upon the results of integrated, collaborative, and multidisciplinary research program and are crucial to establishing the reserve on a lasting base.
The management plan also takes into account the location of El Pilar between Cayo, Belize, and El Peten, Guatemala. This unusual setting impacts every aspect of research activities at El Pilar. The research projects and resource management designs for El Pilar must consider the contiguous sections of Belize and Guatemala as a whole, as resources shared between two countries. The natural environment, cultural resources, adjacent contemporary peoples, and access for tourism all figure prominently in the master research and development plan as well the ultimate product: The El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna. The reward will be an understanding of the ancient and contemporary dimensions of the Maya forest and an opportunity to sustain it for the future.
Contact the author, who works with the MesoAmerican Research Center at the University of California - Santa Barbara, via email: email; web: website
Exploring the Mundo Maya Eco Travels in Mexico
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