MMRF Wins Commonwealth Award

Congratulations to Christopher Nesbitt and Celini Logan Nesbitt, our friends and colleagues in permaculture, who run the Maya Mountain Research Farm (MMRF) in Belize. The farm was founded in 1988 and is one of the oldest ongoing permaculture projects in Central America. This year, MMRF is the recipient of the prestigious Innovation Award from The Commonwealth, based on the impact or potential of their innovations to advance one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. MMRF applied for an award based on their work of the last 30 years in agroforestry, food security, land repair, and the last 15 years’ intensive work on carbon sequestration through agroforestry and biochar. According to the award, “Their innovations include the use of tropical staple food trees in the agroforestry system, the application of biochar from crop residues to premium cultivars of cacao, turmeric, vanilla, and timber with cooperative family labor as the economic driver.” Christopher and Celini have set an example of the difference that can be made on a small scale, but that can have a much larger impact

Over 800 projects applied for the Commonwealth award, from the 53 nations and 2.4 billion people of the Commonwealth. MMRF was one of 15 projects accepted. You can find more about The Commonwealth and the awards here.