Leonardo Obando ~ Elder

Leonardo Obando has been a farmer since he was eight years old.

“…my father was the one that begin to teach me about farming, especially in the farm dealing with cattle, dairy, and then the crops, and the way it used to work at the farm, it was the ancient time, the Maya style.”

When he grew up he went to work in the chicle industry where he became a chicle contractor.  He was a chiclero for many years.  With the resources from his hard work, Mr. Obando invested in land and became a full-time farmer. He has approximately 50 acres of land that he used for cattle, which now is being reforested for the expansion of his beekeeping.  He has left a portion of his forest in reserve.

Mr. Obando used to receive most of his income from his cattle, but now his honeybees are his central enterprise. Since he has shifted his focus to honey bees, he has sold his cows as they need cleared land for grazing. This whole change has come slowly and he still has his Ramon orchard for fodder.  Only when his wife died did this change take hold. He is now dedicated to planting a diversity of trees that flower every month so his bees will have enough to live and make their honey. Mr. Obando’s development of a forest reserve and mindful creation of a biologically diverse environment for his honey bees are examples of his commitment to environmental stewardship.