A recent book encourages us to view Maya history through the words of an anthropologist who, for more than 35 years, has worked to discover and analyze the remnants of old Maya cities, farm land, and sacred places. "Maya Wisdom and the Survival of Our Planet," by Lisa J. Lucero, is more than a telling of history; it is an strong call for a change in today's world, asking for a shift away from its careless and wasteful ways towards a greener social structure based on Maya ideas.

Lucero, an anthropology professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, clarifies that "Maya" refers to the people, their archaeological sites, and settlements; "Mayan" relates specifically to the languages they spoke. The Maya, she emphasizes, are not a dead culture. They are a dynamic people who have lived for thousands of years in parts of southern Mexico and Central America because of their ability to adapt and wisdom.

Lucero points out that over 7 million Maya now live in Central America and other areas.
Her assertion that the Maya maintained sustainability is supported by solid proof painstakingly collected by anthropologists, archaeologists, and specialists in social and environmental sciences.

"They did not cause the extinction of any plant or animal species before the coming of the Spanish," she said. "The ancestral Maya." The Maya have been farming for more than 4,000 years without depleting resources. It built cities that could sustain tens of thousands places with self-cleaning reservoirs public parks and varied urban farms and gardens that could provide for their needs.

She says that being able to give drinkable water during the long dry season gave much power and rule to the kings when the cities were at their highest level. These kings did ceremonies to make the rain god, Chakh, happy; as long as Chakh sent rain, they kept their clear power. But these king rules ended when a long time of dry spells lessened the water supply, making the cities hard to live in. By 900 A.D. the Maya left their cities, their rulers, and all linked town structures.

The views expressed by Lucero are mainly based on her own research and readings, plus the help of some colleagues from Maya who guide her to steer through the sometimes tough conditions of central Belize, which is also the main setting of her studies. This book comes with a bit of an autobiographical tone since it is filled with what she lived and who she interacted with among the Maya; it makes for a deeper and truer picture of Maya history along with the economic forces that threaten their life ways and cultural heritage.

An example of this can be seen with the Mennonite farmers who arrived in the area during the 1950s, choosing to buy land that featured Maya structures, knowing the Maya had established their settlements in the areas with the most fertile soil. Rather than protecting these historic sites, most farmers plow directly over them, erasing history one layer at a time. Lucero has spent many seasons unearthing and documenting what she can in these fields before the structures and artifacts of Maya civilization fade into oblivion.

Lucero describes some environmentally sustainable practices of the ancient Maya, which remain the same to this day. One example is careful documentation and mapping of the home garden of Cleofo Choc, a Mopan Maya and excavation foreman.

Wild plants, native and nonnative domesticated species, free-roaming chickens, and pigs all comprise the Choc home garden. According to the map, there are at least 65 different species of plants, trees, and flowers represented. These are used for many different things; some are consumed (fruits, vegetables, palm hearts, nuts, spices, garnishes, and herbs), medicinal (for pain relief and "to improve the blood"), construction (timber and vines for rope), household (insect repellent, baskets, and leaves for wrapping food), ornamental (flowers), and toxic (for fish stuns). The milpa is a field that has gradually been simplified over the years. Its diversity was lost and now mostly contains maize, beans, cassava, and okra. Cleofo had formerly grown maize, beans, chaya, papaya, cassava, potatoes, coco, and sometimes rice and pineapple. These gardens and fields play an important role in sustaining the longevity of the Maya civilization because they replicate the diversity that is compared to that within a forest.
Maya history and their view; in nine chapters. A vivid account of the ceremonial foundations of their beliefs, deep respect for every aspect of natural environment comes out. Also, practical lessons on how the Maya were able to catch, store, purify and keep water; a very essential resource for their sustainability over the years.

In the tenth chapter, a set of recommendations for modern societies is outlined by Lucero in adopting various environmentally sustainable practices and attitudes to embrace the success of the Maya over thousands of years in thriving even with considerable political and environmental changes.