To build a healthy future, there is a need to manage the inescapable changes that are materializing as chaotic climate extremes. The United Nations DGs, Sustainable Development Goals, fall into good nutrition and safe housing. This is accomplished with the milpa forest-garden cycle that stretches back in time and underwrote the magnificent Maya civilization. In this presentation, we connect the ancient Maya settlement patterns with our example from El Pilar Archaeological Reserve for Maya Flora and Fauna in Belize and Guatemala with contemporary traditional farmer patterns known from the Maya forest.

The challenges of climate chaos have been part of living in the Maya forest for more than 8,000 years. The millennial wisdom and expertise of milpa forest gardeners provide critical keys to lowering temperature, conserving water, building soil fertility, increasing biodiversity, and reducing erosion. Once denigrated as wasteful, the milpa must be recognized as a regenerative cycle that supports the daily lives of households provisioning food, medicine, home products, home construction, and habitat for both rare and common animals. Indigenous knowledge is the source of the success of the ancient Maya and can contribute to future food sovereignty by cultivating in a way that reduces risks over the long term. Leveraging on the success of the past will share a promise for the future of the world.