History of our organization

The ASSOCIATION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE ITZÁ BIOSPHERE was founded in 1990 by a group of community leaders and elders, with the purpose of promoting the conservation of the Itzá Mayan culture and the socio-cultural and economic development of our community. The Association has legal status and is currently made up of 101 members, mostly based in the municipality of San José, Petén.

The Bio-Itzá Association, as a community-based organization, has developed a wide range of activities since its constitution, related to projects for the conservation, development and promotion of the Mayan-Itzá culture, sustainable productive projects in order to create opportunities for our members. Since 1994, the Association has achieved the creation and administration in usufruct of the Bio-Itzá Indigenous Reserve, which is a 3,000 ha forest reserve in the municipal ejido of San José, Petén. As of 2020, thanks to the Association's arduous efforts, we obtained the title of ownership of 2,661 ha of the Bioitzá Reserve.

In 2020, the Organization began negotiations to obtain a concession for the territory called El Lechugal, which is located in the north of the municipality of San José, Petén, within the Multiple Use Zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, with an area of 24 thousand hectares. After a long struggle and with the support and backing of various organizations, in 2024 we obtained the concession for this territory, for a renewable period of 25 years. It should be noted that this is the first concession granted to a native indigenous community in the territory that is now the Maya Biosphere Reserve.