Itzamna Society was formed with the purpose of developing and managing the Noj K?aaxH?men Elijio Panti National Park (EPNP), promoting biodiversity conservation, cultural patrimony and community development. All processes that the society does has the involvement of the communities because the society is for the communities and the development of the project is no different than other processes involving community participation. The communities are involved in the decision making on the activities of the project by holding meetings with the leaders and elders of the communities. The Board of Directors is comprised of members from the 3 communities represented by Itzamna Society namely, El Progresso-7 miles, San Antonio and Cristo Rey Village in the Cayo District. Yucatec Maya is spoken and Itzamna promotes the preservation of this language throughout its activities. The participation of the communities in the execution of the project is important because they are the ones who will be directly involved in providing the labor for the activities to be accomplished. All decision making will come from the Board of Directors of the Society with approval from the community leaders. A project steering committee with representation from the 3 communities, the Forest Department and GEF SGP will be established.

The Itzamna Society (IS) is a registered Community-Based Organization (CBO) with the purpose of developing and managing the Noj K?aaxH?men Elijio Panti National Park (EPNP) and promoting biodiversity conservation, cultural patrimony and community development. IS became a legally registered association in February 2000. The association consists of volunteer members representing the communities of San Antonio, Cristo Rey, and El Progresso-7 Miles in the Cayo District.

The awareness program is of utmost importance to the schools because the protected area plays an important role in the livelihood of the communities. Brochures with information on the importance of the protected area will be developed as to share the knowledge to the school children, teachers and communities. Currently Itzamna manages a Facebook page under the name: Elijio Panti National Park. Most of the information directed to the general public will be uploaded in this page. The educational content will consist of pictures, short videos, helpful links and written educational content. Most of the educational content will be focused on traditional knowledge about conservation, Medicinal plants along with their uses, Mayan folklore, including educational trips to the National Park. Local indigenous knowledge on food sovereignty and agroecological practices introduced and demonstrated. Brief videos on the importance of the national park will be developed and shared in Yucatec Maya as a means of encouraging wider dissemination with the targeted communities.

The negotiation of the Elijio Panti National Park with the Forest Department was one of the greatest achievements for IS and the buffering communities. The Itzamna Society is currently lobbying with the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing for the upgrading of the farm roads as well as feeder roads on the 3 mile access road from San Antonio Village to the Visitor Center of the Elijio Panti National Park. A co-management agreement for the Offering Cave is under negotiation with the National Institute for Culture and History (NICH). The Itzamna Society is working on another negotiation with the lands department / forestry department to solve issues with land ownership within the EPNP.

The project will provide jobs to 20 youths from the 3 communities on the execution of the activities with recommendation from the village leaders. The awareness to the schools will involve the participation of youths to assist with presentations and field visits to the protected area. The society has always considered the participation of youths in all its activities. The youths will have to keep up with the good work for the benefit of the communities and the future generation, especially in conservation efforts for their survival and the generations to come.

Through the project Itzamna Society was able to complete the following activities related to sustainability. Construct access road to the visitor center, waterfall, and caves to allow for greater traffic of visitors Reinforce our position with PACT and surrounding resorts to promote and advertise the national park and what it has to offer. Identify new donor agencies for funding to enhance other infrastructure developments in the park. Signs at the major highway intersections, borders, and airports promoting the park and its activities. Reconstructing the web page and other social media platforms. Possibilities to identify universities, professors, and student groups to conduct research, certification, and complete their curriculum studies as interns. Promote the park to be a vacation destination for the Belizean travelers. Promoting the national park as a major destination in comparison to the area of mountain pine ridge and Chiquibul due to its accessibility and close proximity to the larger towns. Analyzing the management plan of the Protected Area within the Conservation Act to verify to what extent sustainable logging and exotic plants harvesting can be done in the reserve as a revenue stream for the park without in balancing the ecosystem of the park. With the amount of natural spring flowing in the park, some form of spring water bottling operation can be implemented with proceeds diverted towards the management of the park. Investigate and market as a trade-off for carbon credits considering the forest cover and size of the park.