Quintana Roo Project Cultivates Medicinal Plants to Preserve Maya Traditional Knowledge

Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana Roo — Communities in this municipality are strengthening traditional medicine through a project that cultivates medicinal plants, aiming to preserve ancestral Maya knowledge and ensure its transmission to future generations.

The initiative, coordinated by the Institute of Biodiversity and Protected Natural Areas (Ibanqroo) and local cooperatives, addresses the risk that much of this orally transmitted knowledge could disappear.

Biologist Luis Antonio Mora Tembre explained that the project seeks to document and disseminate these traditional practices. Beyond the cultural component, the actions encourage community participation in decision-making regarding natural resource use, promoting sustainable governance models.

In various localities, communities maintain the ancestral cultivation system known as ka’anche, used to reproduce medicinal species and ensure the continuity of traditional knowledge.

The push for medicinal plants represents both a health alternative and a strategy to strengthen cultural identity and community development in the region.