|
Mission Statement
A Holistic Viewpoint
Every minute of the day more and more of the world's lands are disappearing
into the hands of man. We use the lands and take from the earth, and
generally give nothing back. The earth gives us so much: water, food,
medicine, shelter, history, etc.. These lands were as precious to our
ancient Mayan ancestors as they are to us in this day and age. The earth
is our livelihood. Knowing this, we want to give something back to the
earth and protect her, for without her we are nothing. By protecting
her, we will help the earth rejuvenate herself and keep in balance,
ensuring a better life for our people for many generations to come.
We have the opportunity to further investigate the forest's magical
medicinal powers, provide a sanctuary for many of the world's endangered
animals and plants, and preserve the remnants of the ancient Mayan culture.
By creating the Elijio Panti National Park, we knew that we are giving
the earth the chance to accomplish these things as well as do our part
as guardians and citizens of the world.
The forest is very generous in taking care of our people. The forests
provide all of world's creatures with clean air; they take on the huge
responsibility of absorbing our carbon dioxide and other wastes and
replenish the atmosphere with pure oxygen. They are also so kind as
to clean our water by acting like a sponge for our pollutants and filter
the water to provide us with clean drinking water. In order to balance
man's destructive and abusive actions of polluting, extracting and clear-cutting,
we must give the earth the chance to counteract these negative impacts.
By allowing her to recover, the earth can begin to balance out the effects
of high levels of pollution, coral reef bleaching, ozone depletion,
erosion and siltation of many waters, and even global warming. To help
do our part to protect the world, we know we must guard our lands and
create a National Park that would be free from the destructive hands
of man.
By protecting our rainforests all of humankind will benefit. Our families
will be able to ensure that our drinking water will be clean and free
from diseases, the air that we breathe will be pure, and the rains for
our fields will be sufficient. The children will also have the chance
to learn hands-on about the environment and the benefits of its preservation;
they will learn not to take the earth's resources for granted. Moreover,
the rest of the people from the world will have a chance to learn and
feel the powers of the rainforest, and they too may choose to protect
more of their lands.
We can also benefit humankind by protecting the rainforests' medicinal
properties. Over thirty percent of the medicines used in modern day
medicine have been derived from the rainforests' medicinal plants. On
top of the modern medicinal practices, the Mayan people have used the
plants to maintain their health for thousands of years. To this day,
we have not fully investigated the uses of many of these plants. We
hope that by protecting these lands, we will preserve these precious
plants and allow for research in the future.
Many of these plants are being washed away from the world and along
with them the animals and insects disappear. More and more of these
species are being added to the endangered species list, many of which
exist in the National Park. Therefore, it is our responsibility to do
whatever we can to protect them and their homes from further devastation.
By providing a sanctuary for them, we will guarantee their safety for
generations to come.
Our ancestors lived among these forests and flourished. They swam
and bathed in the rivers, ate fruit from the trees, made medicine from
the plants, and slept in the caves. Our forefathers also knew to protect
and return power to the sacred forests by creating temple and offering
sites, many of which can still be visited in the park today. They cherished
the lands and knew how important they were to our well being. We will
protect our lands and our ancestors' sacred grounds. By doing so, our
people too can remember the way of our ancestors and begin to feel closer
to nature. It is important to remember our roots and maintain the ways
of our people. Nature has surrounded us for thousands of years; we need
to make sure it will be there for thousands more.
As you can see, protecting our lands will not only help our people
appreciate our natural surroundings, but the whole world can catch a
glimpse of the Mayan spiritual area and its inhabitants. These are the
areas of the world that give the earth so much power, so we owe it to
Mother Nature to do everything we can to protect them. We know that
we are making sure this world is a great place.
|
