Category: Environment

Earlier this year, the Government of Belize ordered a suspension of the dredging operations being conducted at Angelfish Caye by the company Angelfish Caye L.L.C. The island is also known as the Will Bauer Flats. Operations of the company are still at a standstill as it attempts to gain environmental clearance and permits to proceed. On Tuesday, Chief Environmental Officer, Anthony Mai provided an update on the Environmental Impact Assessment conducted by the Department of the Environment. Here’s what he had to say.

 

Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer, D.O.E.

“There is none so far in my estimation, Angelfish has environmental clearance, and I could only speak to the D.O.E. I know that there might be some issues with regards to the dredge permit, et cetera. I won’t speak on that. That has to be input has to be given from the agencies that deal with that. But so far again the Department of Environment has granted clearance. This project went through, I think, a very rigorous process. We had three public consultations for this project, two NEAC meetings, and at the end of the day, the NEAC recommended that clearance be granted, and the D.O.E. accepted the recommendation. We developed a draft on the, I’m sorry, on a draft environmental compliance plan that was shared with the NEAC had input, and at the end of the day, it was finalized. And so the, from our standpoint, they have environmental clearance. The thing is that once environmental clearance is granted, It’s not a green light to proceed, right? Environmental clearance normally is just one aspect of the list of approvals, a project that will need to proceed.”

Mangroves serve as a natural buffer to coastal communities in times of natural disaster, as well as provide a habitat for marine life near the coast. But there is a thin line between development and balance and with the ever-growing demand for more high-rise resorts and luxury stays in tourist destinations, there is a constant struggle for balance and managing the natural buffer that mangroves provide. In this week’s edition of Belize on Reel, News Five’s Marion Ali looks at the delicate harmony between both. Here’s that report

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Mangroves provide a natural shield when hurricanes bear down on coastal communities. They protect against the force of tidal waves and wind. But a lot of Belize’s mangroves are being destroyed, wantonly in many cases, for the sake of development. There is a conscious effort on the part of the government to reverse that trend by implementing new measures.

 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Environment

“In our Bond Challenge Project, the restoration of a hundred and thirty thousand hectares of degraded lands and that also includes some mangrove restoration. I think it’s around six thousand acres of mangroves that will be restored and implanted between now and 2030. So we have a restoration desk at the Department of Environment and they are now fully involved, fully engaged, trying to start the project, but it is going to be a collaboration with the private sector, with the N.G.O.s who are working on there, for example, certain regulations that regulate the use and you say tearing down of the mangroves, especially in areas where you have these developments for tourism, especially of housing in the cayes and coastal areas.”

 

Property owners should acquire permits from the Forest Department before they clear away mangroves for development, but many times the law is not upheld. So, when the Department of the Environment gets the information, they assess the damage and impose a fine. As Belize’s tourism industry growsthere is a demand for more construction of resorts and hotels in coastal communities. It potentially means that mangroves will be cleared to accommodate these buildings. Of particular concern for the World Wildlife Fund is that most of the lands that contain mangroves are privately owned. Nadia Bood is the Senior Program Officer for Marine Science and Climate Change.

 

Nadia Bood, Senior Program Officer, Marine Science & Climate Change, WWF, Belize

“A key project that we are undertaking right now is looking at mangrove land tenure ship to understand, you know, who owns the private – to what extent, what percentage of mangroves in the country is in private hands. and it’s really important understand what percentage is still state-owned, where we can have some interventions. Our original estimation before we commenced this research is that you know somewhere in the vicinity of seventy percent of Belize’s coastal zone is in private hands, so that begs the need, you know, for us to work with these landowners because that will only put additional pressure on the existing mangroves that we have.”

 

The WWF is working with the government through the Lands and Surveys Department, the Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority Institute and the Forest Department to undertake a national land tenure analysis. It is with a view to develop an engagement strategy to work with landowners on how to sustainably develop around the mangroves that are on their property. What will serve to complement that effort is a partnership that Fragments of Hope is forging with Strong Coast, a U.S-based non-government organization, to provide training on how to trim mangroves.

 

 

Monique Vernon, Coral Practitioner, Fragments of Hope

“I don’t know of any actual method, like they don’t come and say, well, this is how to properly trim a mangrove. I don’t know of any documents or anything to that effect, so with this training that -with this collaboration that Fragments of Hope has with Strong Coast, more than likely, I would be trained into how to properly trim mangroves among other people and then that way we could come and train other people in Belize how to do that because from what I understand, mangroves can’t be cut any kind of way. It’s not like the normal trees you see out here. If you cut it in a bad way, the whole thing can die.”

 

In May 2023, Bowen and Bowen spearheaded a mangrove reforestation exercise on Goff’s Caye to curb erosion that has been occurring on the island for over a decade.  Kent Garbutt, an assistant lab technician at the CZMAI explained to us that there was a special method being applied to the reforestation effort.

 

 

 

 

Kent Garbutt, Asst. Lab Technician, CZMAI

“We’re using the method called the Riley Encasement Method, I mus say of some sort because I have altered it to suit this area. So, the Riley Encasement Method is basically having something to enclose the mangroves in – a pipe, a bamboo, something of that nature. So basically it’s just cutting the pipe or the bamboo in the middle, facing it to the land because we want the water to go in but we don’t want a lot of water to go in.”

 

 

With the level of development happening along Belize’s coastal areas, it will require stringent enforcement and constant monitoring of the laws to stop the widespread destruction of the mangroves.  The Ministry of Environment has established an office in San Pedro to monitor unapproved mangrove clearing. But there is a need for countrywide cover.

 

 

 

Orlando Habet

“That is part of our problem – personnel. We have to have more personnel to be able to monitor and have compliance ongoing. We will have to submit the request to Cabinet for support for funding for additional personnel that we can place at least one other person down south and possibly one in the north. We have the areas of Placencia, Hopkins, and other small islands where we have a lot of development, so we need that kind of monitoring and compliance.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.

It’s the one-year anniversary of the Reef Resilience Project in Belize. The project was launched to protect one of Belize’s most precious assets form further damaged caused by the effects of climate change. Today, stakeholders in the project gathered to discuss the progress made over the last year and further develop the roadmap moving forward. News Five’s Britney Gordon attended the event today for more details.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

The Belize Barrier Reef: some call it the rainforest of the sea. Famed scientist Charles Darwin once described it as the most remarkable reef in the West Indies. But to Belize, it is the pride and joy. Renowned for its diverse ecosystem and colorful structures, it stretches roughly three hundred meters across the Caribbean Sea. But like many other natural assets, it is in danger. And that is why environmental organizations are working in tandem to protect the reef from the effects of climate change. Tara Scarborough, the Chief Resilience Officer at the Coastal Zone Management and Institute, told us about this goal.

 

Tara Scarborough, Chief Resilience Officer, CZMAI

“I spearhead the Reef Resilience Unit at Coastal Zone. So essentially this entire event is for the Strategy for Reef Resilience in Belize. And we started strategizing in 2021. 2023, we ended up launching the strategy. And so today it’s one year of progress, challenges we’re highlighting. And also we’ve added a new project. to the strategy which we are launching today.”

 

 

 

In total, the strategy has eight projects and three flagship projects in play, all working toward the preservation of coral reefs in Belize. Assistant Country Director for Marine at Wildlife Conservation Society, Ralna Lamb-Lewis, updated us about the progress the project has made over the past year, which seeks to provide supplementary livelihoods for members of fishing communities.

 

 

 

Ralna Lamb-Lewis, Asst. Dir, Marine at Wildlife Conservation Society

“There are two marine protected areas whereby we work at Glover’s Reef and Saltwater Caye Marine Reserve. And there are vulnerabilities that these communities encounter as a result of climate change. Most of them, like I said, are reliant on fishing, so we were looking at what other type of supplementary initiatives could be implemented that would obviously, supplement their income base for the household. So the project that we were looking at we did first an audit report to basically identify what type of projects have been implemented in the past in these communities, what were some of the challenges. challenges in implementations, and what are some of the enabling factors needed in order for them to be successful during implementation.”

 

The project targets areas all over the country and has bolstered its support for vulnerable members of the community, such as women and people living with disabilities. The Research Institute at the University of Belize also spearheads a project in collaboration with Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association. Director of the research institute, Doctor Jake Snaddon, details the project.

 

 

 

Dr. Jake Snaddon, Dir, Research Institute, University of Belize

“This project really supports looking at the sort of the data behind reef resilience at Turneffe Atoll. So going back into the thirteen years of data that we’ve been collecting with TASA, so that the university of Belize has been collecting alongside TASA on an annual and sometimes biannual data that we need to work that up. So making sure that data is usable and accessible for the adaptive management. And the management of the at all overall. So making sure that the science is able to support that conservation effort.”

 

Adaptive Management Program Director of TASA, Virginia Burns Perez, says that through this collaboration, TASA was able to strengthen its team and upgrade its resources for the betterment of the managing reserves.

 

Virginia Burns Perez, Adaptive Management Program Director, TASA

“This was able to fund several things, but the key things for TASA was funding one of our staff positions, the conservation science officer who is a field officer and conducting a lot of these reef surveys. Through these funds, we were able to complete the agro surveys, which feeds into the report cards that will come out shortly. In this here. We’re also able to purchase some much-needed equipment such as dive tanks and dive gears. And so while this project is really focused on reef resiliency, we’re using a lot of this to, for other work, for fisheries management enforcement. And TASA as the co-manager of the reserve.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Climate change and the environment are taking center stage at the Fifty-fifth Caribbean Broadcasting Union’s Annual General Meeting in Belize. In collaboration with the regional organization, the Caribbean Climate Change Community Center is hosting a group of journalists from across the region to discuss the importance of climate reporting. News Five’s Paul Lopez has been in Placencia since Saturday. On Sunday, he joined the delegation on a trip to Laughing Bird Caye where he saw firsthand how a non-governmental organization is fighting back against the impact of climate change on one of the world’s most valuable ecosystems, coral reefs. Here is that report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Coral reefs play an important role in many aspects. They provide coastal protection from storms and floods. Coral reefs also contribute to economies across the world, particularly through the tourism industry.

 

Monique Vernon, Coral Reef Practitioner, Fragments of Hope

“Without the barriers reef the storm in the area would devastate the corals. So, for us it plays and important role, because we know they absorb carbons. They also slow down the storm, wave actions and so forth. They provide food and livelihood to many of the people on the coastlines. We get a lot of tourists coming out here to view the corals we have.”

 

 

Belize has the largest barrier reef or the largest coral reef system in the western hemisphere. It is under threat from coral bleaching.

 

Monique Vernon

“The way how coral bleaching works is first of all, corals are animals. And there is an algae which is a plant that lives inside the animal. Because they that allows corals to get the colors they have. When the temperature gets too hot for the corals and the algae, the algae say I got to go, because it is too hot, and I can’t stay. They expel themselves from the coral and the coral loses its color and that is what the coral bleaching is. But when corals lose their color, they are not technically dead. We at Fragments of Hope say they are dead when it is white, but you see other algae’s goring on top the coral.”

 

 

As the world’s temperature increases and affects climate change trends, corals are being exposed to severe heat. Coral bleaching has become a global crisis, Belize is no exception. Vernon says incidents of coral bleaching are now being recorded much earlier in the year. The worst-case scenario, according to Doctor Colin Young, is the loss of seventy to ninety percent of the world’s coral reef.

 

 

 

Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC

“Ironically you ask because this year has been one of the worst year for coral bleaching across the world, why because ocean temperatures have been one of the hottest it has bene since recorded history. But more importantly we are working with organizations like Fragments of Hope, looking at how you replant corals with climate resistant variety of corals. While this is a small example it is a pilot that once it is successful it can be scaled up across the region.”

 

 

One non-governmental organization is fighting back against the effects of climate change on corals. Fragments of Hope works to restore corals destroyed by natural disaster and impacted by coral bleaching. The organization’s largest and longest standing nursery exists just off the coast of Laughing Bird Caye. A media trip to the island gave reporters a firsthand look at their work.

 

Natasha Gibson, Coral Practitioner, Fragments for Hope

“What you will see personally today is sixteen-year-old standing elk horns out here surviving from tremendous devastation, climate change, natural disaster caused by humans, it is still standing. After sixteen years we have standing out planted corals out here. We have tiny, small baby fragments that we planted just before the bleaching session last year. That is looking alive as well. When we choose genets to plant, when we go and collect from our mother coral, whether it is closer to the reef or in the reef whereby we take stuff from nearshore simply to see how these coral genets and species are working with the different climate temperatures when we move them around.”

 

Coral reefs are also home to a large variety of marine life, putting Belize’s fisheries stock at risk of significant decline. Notwithstanding the work Fragments of Hope has accomplished, Doctor Young says more must be done urgently.

 

 

 

Dr. Colin Young

“These impacts are small, and the scale is tiny. And if you think about the size of the reef, not only in Belize, but across the world there is no better way to stop this deterioration than for us to stop putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We cannot adapt our way out of climate change. It is too costly. It is happening to face and these species have evolved under a set of stable conditions, stable climate over a long period of time.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.

Doctor Young also spoke about the global impacts of climate change and the immediate actions that must be taken. He contends that Earth is on a trajectory to not only exceed the one point five degrees outlined in the Paris Agreement, but to potentially exceed three degrees within the next eight decades. As a result, the current effects of climate change would be significantly magnified. Here is how he puts it.

 

Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC

“The U.N. has called climate change the single greatest threat to humanity. Our leaders across the region, pick your country. They will tell you that climate change is an existential threat. It is undermining our ability to meet our S.D.G.s and we are paying for it in lives and livelihoods and worst of all it is something we did not cause. So, it is a socially unjust situation and the truth of it is, the absolute truth the world is heading in the wrong direction despite all the public commitment we heard from those who are responsible for causing climate change. The science is very clear when to come sot climate change. We know that in order for us to keep one point five alive that we have to cut emissions by forty-five percent in 2030. So we have to transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. We have to look at transitioning food and food production from fossil fuel energy. We have to electrify and move away from coal and go to things like wind and solar. But when we look at all the pledges and promises countries have made, COP twenty nine Is coming up, COP twenty-eight past like eight months ago, we came back with some sense of hope that the world will do more fast. Ironically and unfortunately for us they are not.”

Five Cs has entered a strategic partnership with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union to sponsor C.B.U. awards and host regional journalists in climate change workshops. This week, the organization is engaging a group of journalists from across the Caribbean in climate change related topics, ahead of the Caribbean Media Awards. Doctor Young spoke on the importance of this partnership.

 

Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC

“The Five Cs have based on the research we have done in the region we have found out there is a tremendous knowledge gap between those who work in climate change and the regular persons on the ground, the farmers, fisherfolks and those who work in areas affected by climate change. So, the events of the C.B.U. is intended to help bridge that knowledge gap by helping to build knowledge gaps of the Caribbean public towards climate change. The stores and reporting we will tell are important to build that knowledge, whether print, digital, TV, news, it is important for journalist to effectively communicate the stories to understand the science of climate change so that they can engage audiences in an effective manner.”

 

 

It is no secret that mangroves are an important aspect of Belize’s environment. They contribute to the preservation of biodiversity and the removal of carbon from the atmosphere, bolstering the blue economy. However, deforestation continues to be a threat to the integrity of Belize’s mangroves. We asked the Minister of Blue Economy, Andre Perez, how the issue of deforestation is being addressed within the coastal zone. Here is his response.

 

Andre Perez, Minister of Disaster Risk Management

“We are still talking about issues about replanting as well. Of course, we realize and we, again, from the Ministry of Blue Economy standpoint, we all know the importance and the critical role that the mangroves play. Obviously, what we’re seeing or developing down south is also a concern for us. And the Blue Economy always plays a role in there. That is always good that we, the development happens in a very sustainable manner. And the blue economy understands that it’s always important that we take care of our mangroves and that much the development has to be looked at very carefully. So it’s a fine balance we have to look at. Of course, development has to happen, but certainly not in such a magnitude where once only people are destroying mangroves. We’re totally against that.”

 

Britney Gordon

“So you feel that we’re trying to take a proactive approach moving forward?”

 

Andre Perez

“In terms of our ministry and the Coastal Zone Management Authority Institute, we are working together. Also collaborative with all the different departments. In fact, just yesterday, we were discussing these things, about replanting, not only the mangroves, but as well as the forest reforestation. Actually, the project is going to come online very soon about replanting. So we got to do it in that way. In terms of that slash and burner, we talk about destruction of the forest. We have to find other ways, alternative, which we’re working on to be more effective and protecting our mangroves as well as the forest.”

In June, when the newly constructed Coastal Plain Highway experienced significant flooding, it was attributed to deforestation. According to official data from the Forestry Department, within the last decade, eighty-eight thousand hectares or three hundred and thirty-nine square miles of forest land across Belize have been deforested. We were unable to get actual data on how much forest have been cleared along the Coastal Plain Highway, but it is enough for conservationists to raise an alarm. Experts believe that deforestation is not only leading to more significant flooding events in the area, but also posing a threat to wildlife that traverse this rich jungle ecosystem, like jaguars and tapirs. Logging and unsustainable agricultural development have been identified as the primary causes. In tonight’s episode of Belize on Reel, News Five’s Paul Lopez takes a closer look at the deforestation within the Maya Forest Corridor and the Manatee Forest Reserve, along the Coastal Plain Highway. Here is that report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

The simplest definition of deforestation is intentional clearing of forested land. One of its negative effects is the reduction of the soil’s ability to hold water. As a result, water from heavy rainfall flows over the surface and causes flooding. Back in June, when the newly built Coastal Plain Highway saw significant flooding, and damage as a result, experts within the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Housing pointed to deforestation as the primary reason.

 

Voice of: Julius Espat, Minister of Infrastructure Development

“What we have been experiencing is a part of our own making. Deforestation has become a major issue. You have to understand that trees and all of these things help with minimizing the erosion. It directs the flow of water to a specific area. Once you take that out and then it’s, a free flow.”

 

 

 

 

Voice of: Evondale Moody, Chief Engineer, Ministry of Infrastructure Development

“Other entities created that problem for us by deforestation up stream. And based on my observation this morning we have a lot of areas where a lot of forest is cleared now where people are developing their new businesses, their new parks opening.”

 

 

 

The thirty-six-mile highway is surrounded by vast flatlands and lush forest. Fifteen miles in sits the entrance to an eco-adventure park that opened back in March of this year. The Excalibur Adventure Park sits on one thousand acres of forested land that borders the Manatee Forest Reserve to the north.  So, is this eco-adventure park contributing to the deforestation that the Ministry of Infrastructure Development says has become a major issue? The company refutes any such claim. We spoke with Francis Cucul, the Manager of Excalibur Adventure Park.

 

 

 

Francis Cucul, Manager, Excalibur Adventure Park

“All along the watershed we have planted, and if you look in our logo, it has the number five thousand, we have planted over five thousand key stone trees such as the Mahagony, Cedar and other fruit trees to encourage wildlife along the water shed.”

 

 

 

Paul Lopez

“What was considered in the development process to maintain in the development process to maintain the integrity of the rich forest in this area?”

 

Francis Cucul

“So one of the things that was considered was the landscaping, the drainage of the area and reforesting in this area.”

 

Paul Lopez

“How are you all different than developers that come and want to clear land and make money off it as some would assume?”

 

Francis Cucul

“We work with the environment and again I will emphasize on planting rather than cutting down trees.  We leave trees that are already there, so we do selective clearing and if we have Mahogany tree or Sapodilla trees or any tree that has significance, we leave it there and work around it.”

 

 

The proprietors of the eco-park have also established two conservation groups. For further context, the lands that run parallel to the highway have been deemed as a crucially important forest corridor by conservationists. It connects the Maya Mountain Massif in the south to the northern portion of Selva Maya.  The Manatee Forest Reserve also forms a large part of this important forest link that jaguars and the endangered Baird’s tapirs, among other wildlife species, use to traverse the country. Satellite imagery from over the last decade reveals significant land clearing along the southern border of the Manatee Forest Reserve and even more within the area designated as the Maya Forest Corridor.

 

Voice of: Elma Kay, Chairperson, Maya Forest Corridor Trust

“It has come to a point where we really need to band together to save this area. Belize is world renowned for its protected area systems, but one of the gaps is the protection between those connected areas. What wildlife would this corridor be especially important for? Jaguars are wide ranging species that need large areas to sustain them. This corridor has been shrinking.”

 

 

 

So, it is not only the flood waters that are cause for concern along the Coastal Plain Highway. Deforestation is posing significant threats to the movement of wildlife species. The Maya Forest Corridor Trust used the June 2024 flooding as an opportunity to write to the government to highlight issues such as illegal logging and the arbitrary issuance of permits for land surveying and clearing in the area. And, while satellite imagery may not reveal significant signs of deforestation within the Manatee Forest Reserve itself, Jason Alschaft, the Chairman of Gales Point Manatee, a small Creole community along the Coastal Plain Highway, says illegal logging is taking place at an alarming rate within the reserve.

 

Jason Alschaft, Chairman, Gales Point Manatee

“There is a lot of logging going on, some we have questioned, and it turned out it was illegal. Forest service (Forestry Department) came in and extracted what they have already cut and made the roads impassable again, so it was much more difficult to access the area. Sometimes we get trails where people may find a beautiful tree that they know they can make money on and harvest it. We see trucks coming and going all the time with logs, it is something I don’t know. A lot of times I see small pine trees coming out and it seems like they are getting smaller and smaller, and it seems like a lot of times what they take is a little bit more like we will just take it.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Would you classify the cause of the recent flooding as a result of deforestation within the Manatee Forest Reserve?”

 

Jason Alschaft

“I think it could be to some degree. I think recently the change in the road and the pushing of water in different directions has really been what caused some of the flooding that we experienced. In that area that flooded and lifted the road, that is an area that floods but it’s rare. But now with all the water that is being pushed to that same river I think that is what is causing it to get close to flooding every time it rains.”

 

We reached out to the Forestry Department for an interview. They informed us that they were unable to comment at this time due to ongoing discussions with conservationist groups on how best to address deforestation within the reserve. In 2021, the Maya Forest Corridor Trust purchased thirty-thousand acres of land that was under threat of deforestation. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.