Biodiverse Landscapes Fund Launches in Belize

The British High Commission, in partnership with the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change celebrated the launch of the project “Resilient and Biodiverse Landscapes of Northern Mesoamerica,” funded through the Biodiverse Landscapes Fund (BLF).

The launch event, held on July 18th, was followed by a site visit to the Valley of Peace Community Centre in Cayo District.

The project is assisting the development of a Community Climate Resilience Plan and building capacity for regenerative agriculture, fire management, and sustainable livelihoods through training, microgrants, and scholarships. These initiatives are part of the Belize Maya Forest Trust’s Community Stewards Program.

Financed by UK International Development funds from the UK Government, the BLF supports poverty reduction, biodiversity protection, climate change mitigation, and adaptation across six biologically diverse landscapes worldwide, including the Mesoamerica Landscape, which spans areas in Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. In Belize, the BLF will invest approximately USD $3.2 million from September 2023 to October 2029. Activities are being implemented through a consortium of organizations, including the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Belize Maya Forest Trust (BMFT), Programme for Belize (PfB), Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), and the Julian Cho Society. The BLF supports these organizations in protecting and conserving the Selva Maya Forest in Belize, one of the great forests of the Mesoamerica Landscape.

The program is based on four key components: securing land and resource rights, developing forest-based income streams, and implementing climate-adapted rural development with proper social safeguards; ensuring well-governed conservation areas and targeted protection activities for endangered species; building consensus, fostering multisector collaboration, and enacting policy reforms to incentivize forest protection and strengthen IPLC rights; and implementing a monitoring and evaluation framework to assess impact and guide decision-making.