Chicza Organic Rainforest Gum is exactly what it sounds like: gum that comes from the chicle tree found in the Mayan rainforest. The chicle tree is just one of many tropical trees in the world that produces its own type of elastic rubber, which is made by boiling the sap from the tree into a thick paste. Once cooled the rubber is an organic and eco-friendly alternative to the synthetic and non-biodegradable rubber known as polyisobutylene which is used to make the inner tubes of tires used in most gum today! Who Makes chicza? The people of the Mayan rainforest in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, known as chicleros, have been sustaining the natural resources of the rainforest for over a century. About 2,000 chicleros live in an area of rainforest about 1.3 million hectares wide. These Mayan people have survived political control to become an independent community, so to help build up the economy they decided to manufacture the Chicza gum. Not only did they want to prove that they could survive as a people, but they also wanted to show that gum could be 100% natural and waste-free.