Maya Mountain Research Farm

Location & Land: MMRF is in a beautiful location. Located near the Kekchi Maya village of San Pedro Columbia and the Maya ruins of Lubantuun, close to the source of the Rio Grande, where the river bubbles out from the ground, there are plenty of options to get out and see things. With the Columbia Branch of the Rio Grande at its door step, and with the vast expanses of the Maya Mountains behind it, MMRF is located in a critical location for conservation. Wildlife is abundant here, with hundreds of species of birds, and occasionally mammals like ocelot, puma, jaguar, brocket deer, agouti, tapir and peccary. A high percentage of the food eaten on the farm is produced on site. Most of the work here is agrarian, involving planting and maintaining plants, harvesting and processing food. We make our own soaps, jams, vinegars and chutney. The researcher cabins, classroom, kitchen and dining area are all powered by photovoltaic or photovoltaic/wind systems.

 History & Impact: MMRF started out as a citrus and cattle farm, run by Christopher Nesbitt. In 1988, the farm was purchased and a transformation from a cattle and citrus farm into a productive agroecosystem began. Since then much work has been sunk into rebuilding the soil and creating an agroforestry system comprised of fruit trees, timber, tree legumes, herbaceous perennials and medicinal crops, as well as building housing, developing water systems, and establishing gardens. In 2004, MMRF was created. Working with a board of directors, MMRF was first a not-for-profit business, and then, after review of our program by Government of Belize, a registered Non-governmental Organization. We provide a venue for training and research, and conduct ethnobotanical research with the University of Florida. We have provided training for Peace Corps and Belize's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries Department, Ministry of Health, several village councils, local schools and international Universities, as well as local NGOs and Community Based Organizations including Tumul Kin, Yax Che Trust, Sustainable Harvest International, Friends of the Valley, Belize Botanic Gardens, Toledo Institute for Development and the Environment, Plenty Belize, Toledo Development Corporation, and local community members. We have also hosted groups from the US such as Sierra Institute, Appalachia State University, Cornell, UC Santa Barbara, Miami University and Truman State University, and students from Princeton.

Permaculture at MMRF: MMRF is a very well established farm utilizing permaculture principles with over 25 years of work behind it. We host annual permaculture courses here that have both international and local participation. Courses in the past have been taught by renowned permaculture teachers Toby Hemenway, Penny Livingston, Maria Ros, Larry Santoyo, Marisha Auerbach, Starhawk, Andrew Goodheart Brown and Albert Bates. Our annual Permaculture Design Course is a wonderful way to learn permaculture, but living here for extended time is a very good way to experience crafted living systems.The farm has been designed to mimic natural processes, and, in microcosm, with our stacked polyculture, and vertically integrated components, our agroforestry system resembles the primary rainforest in structure. We raise chickens, turkeys and duck, and we also raise insects for poultry food. The farm has a piggery where much of our excess food goes. The manure is composted. The farm is set up to facilitate internal nutrient cycling.