Working with other organizations is a key part of Ya'axche's strategy for protecting the Belizean environment. In 2007, Ya'axché joined TIDE, another NGO based in Punta Gorda; the Belize Forest and Fisheries Departments and international organizations Fauna and Flora International and The Nature Conservancy to develop a strategy for conserving the most important species and ecosystems within the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor. The Corridor spans almost one million acres and includes 14 different protected areas, at the centre of which is the Maya Golden Landscape.

Participation was a vital part of making the plan work and residents from local communities, as well as other stakeholders from businesses, government and civil society, determined which were the most important natural resources for the area and how we were going to protect them.

Nine areas of focus were selected for all involved to focus their attention on and succeed in conserving the local ecology.

• Upland broadleaf forests
• Coastal plain broadleaf forests
• Pine savannahs
• Freshwater ecosystems
• Near-shore and estuarine ecosystems
• Seagrass beds
• Coral reef communities
• Large marine invertebrates
• Archaeological sites

These areas were evaluated, with strategies set out to tackle the highest threats and monitoring plans put in place to measure our collective success.