Category: Environment

On Thursday, the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations, APAMO, held a press conference to voice complaints about proposals made by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change. On June twenty-fifth, the organization sent a seven-page letter to the ministry voicing these complaints, however, they were met with no response. That is until today. We spoke with C.E.O. Kenrick Williams, who told us that the complaints from APAMO have been heard and that the ministry is working carefully to address them.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

After weeks of going unheard by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change, the complaints made by the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations are being addressed. On Thursday, APAMO held a press conference to reiterate concerns previously outlined in a seven-page letter to the ministry that went unanswered. Today, the CEO Kenrick Williams says they have been heard loud and clear. He explains that the ministry is currently revising strategies to strengthen collaboration and facilitation between the government and comanagers, however, he acknowledges the need for clear communication between the parties at all stages of the process.

 

Kenrick Williams, CEO, Ministry Sustainable Development & Climate change 

“So we came with initial consultations, initial engagement to say to the pro co-managers, this is what government is looking at. Let’s give us some initial feedback. No, I recognize that. Maybe the approach, maybe the timeline, the notification. Definitely some guts in the communication from our side and we acknowledge that. And so we are going to continue to make sure that as we go through this process is really just a start. This is not the final draft and say, here you go, give me your input, what part you fit in on this. This is the first part. This is what we are contemplating as a government to address all of those things. Coordination, the collaboration, ensuring that we get the financial investment, ensuring that government is able to meet its part of the bargain. And ensure that there is transparency and accountability on all parts of the partnership.”

 

Among the complaints voiced were difficulties in accessing funding and resources from the government. Eli Miller, Managing Director of Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, highlighted how this change affected fire relief efforts earlier this year.

 

Eli Miller, Managing Director, Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

“We had a lot of fires this year, and I will say it’s gonna happen again. We’re gonna have the consistent hotter, drier conditions coming. And as we’ve discussed with some of the ministers and the coordinator for Nemo. The highest, the best capacity for fire suppression and fire management believes rests with our co-management entities. They have rangers who deal with fire on an annual basis. And that’s where the, that’s where the knowledge lies. That’s how we’re gonna be able, those people are gonna be able to transcribe that knowledge to the communities who, those who don’t already have it, and we can be a better country for it. We can manage our fire situation better. And that doesn’t happen without some kind of support from government and some leadership as well.”

 

According to the ministry, PACT has since provided four hundred and sixty-one thousand dollars in emergency support for fire management. However, APAMO noted the difficulties in accessing grants over the past two years. Williams says that PACT and the ministry are working towards a solution.

 

 

 

 

Kenrick Williams

“PACT itself and its partners has Conservation Services. Has been trying to see how we are targeted in investment, so we’ve created a conservation investment program. That has been. We’ve been working with the protected areas co managers over the last two years to try to ensure that again. The point is that we have a little bit of money.  So we have to make sure that we have the type of impact that we want to create from those investments. So we’re changing the way how we do that. That indeed has been taking some time. We’ve been working closely with the we’ve been working closely with our co managers, we’ve been working closely with the government partners, but that has largely been slow. The board recently took a decision that we need to fast track that process, and we’re going to be providing about a million dollars in bridge financing in the next two weeks or so in order to get some investments on the ground.”

 

Williams also maintains that the intention of the changes is not to micromanage the work of the co-managers, but rather improve the relationship between parties involved.

 

Kenrick Williams

“There are responsibilities on both parts. Government as a regulatory agency have to make sure that there’s accountability, there’s transparency, there’s reporting. Right now that is a framework that is missing, right? We are not reporting against funds collected. We are not I cannot be able to go out and say or protected areas report against this or leverage this amount of money to the system.I know one figure put out was about 16 million, but there’s no clear report. We, government and co-managers can’t, have not been able to come together and say. This is a type of impact we’re having on the ground collectively and nationally. The intent, therefore, is not to micromanage, it’s to improve how we do things.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Earlier this year, a series of wildfires spread rapidly throughout the country, devastating the livelihoods of farmers and displacing dozens of families. Also impacted by these fires were several protected areas and natural resources. To save these assets, multiple government and private sector organizations banded together to douse the flames. Also, on the ground during this process were the comanagers of these protected areas. Today, the Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations, APAMO, held a press conference to voice concerns regarding the recently proposed policy changes and demand recognition for the work put in by comanagers. Christina Garcia, Executive Director of the Ya’axche Conservation Trust voices these complaints.

 

Christina Garcia, Executive Director, Ya’axche Conservation Trust

“One of the main things is capacity. And I say capacity from the side of the government. Because nobody thought that huge of a disaster would have happened in these areas.  And I think that earlier someone mentioned the commitments that the government has signed on to. We get a lot of forest loss. What do you think will happen to the carbon there?  And I know government debunk on that. There’s a legislation that is going to go forward specifically for carbon.  The legislation does not inspire any confidence to sign a comanagement agreement. So who will manage these protected areas?  The government?  We have seen over and over that there’s no capacity and funding to do this. So how are they going to meet those commitments?  So I think that the conversation is long overdue.  It needs to happen, whether they want it or not, because there’s lots at stake at the moment, and I don’t want to say this in a mean kind of way. But we bring a lot to the table. We bring a lot of changes. There’s not only protected areas involved, but communities as well. We work heavily with communities, unless if they want to see the deforestation rate goes up, we already, they have problems with deforestation. The fires even made it worse. . So what’s going to happen next? The training and community, the training of the community, a lot invested in these areas, so  they shouldn’t take us lightly.”

The Ya’axche Conservation Trust has joined forces with various stakeholders, including the Government of Belize, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Global Environmental Facility, to implement a four year project in the Maya Golden Landscape of Toledo District.  This initiative integrates biodiversity conservation, protected areas management and sustainable livelihoods at the landscape level.  Executive Director Christina Garcia tells us more.

 

Christina Garcia, Exec. Dir., Ya’axche Conservation Trust

“It is a project that was formulated four years ago with support from the Government of Belize, particularly the Food and Agriculture Organization and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change.  So yesterday, we had a project launch with the government officials and other state actors, just basically outlining hat the project is going to be and the level of support for what is going to be needed by the Food and Agriculture Organization, but also the Government of Belize.  So the project focuses on various aspects and it will be implemented in ten indigenous communities in the Toledo District and it looks at the development of certain plans, particularly for key biodiversity areas that we manage which is the Maya Mountain North Forest Reserve.  We’ll be developing a thorough plan for that area.  We’re encompassing the feedback from stakeholders, particularly the Trio community.  The project also looks at developing a policy guideline for non-timber forest products and this is something that we have going on in the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve for quite a while and so it’s just the formality and making sure that a policy is established, of course with endorsement by the relevant agencies, regulatory agencies such as the National Biodiversity Office and the Forest Department.”

According to Garcia, the project launch and implementation are both timely, in the wake of devastating wildfires that ravaged farmlands, destroying agricultural crops.

 

Christina Garcia, Exec. Dir., Ya’axche Conservation Trust

“This project comes at a very handy time because, as you know, the devastation that we suffered in the Toledo District has been of mass, I would say, destruction because we never thought that fire would have raged with all these agro-forestry farms.  So the project comes in very handy because agro-forestry is a tool that we utilize for restoration of these lands and I think that the farmers are going to be very grateful for having the implementation of these systems within their farmlands so they’ll have the opportunity to restore what the fire has destroyed.  For example, some of the agro-forestry farms, farmers have lost cacao, coffee, timber, and other fruit trees.  So the project will basically help these farmers to restore these farmlands, but at the same time, you know, making sure that there are best practices that are implemented in the prevention of these fires.  Of course more going towards adopting the sustainable agricultural practices and moving away from the traditional slash and burn that is utilized for crop cultivation.”

The rains of the past week have brought on new challenges for people in the flood-prone areas, but it was just over a month ago that the country was praying collectively for some rains to quell the raging wildfires that were sweeping through so much of the rainforest and farmland. Today News Five asked the Minister of Sustainable Development, Orlando Habet for an update on how bad the wildfires really were. He said that NEMO was preparing a final assessment and so was the Forestry Department.

 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development

“From our side, the Forest Protection Agency, we’re doing a comprehensive assessment. We’re looking at satellite images trying to move out those areas that were affected last year and fires from two years ago. And so you can only hone down on what happened this year and to really come up with those pictures and possibly a value because of emissions. So it’s underway; we already have some pictures, already satellite images. We have been collaborating with other institutions, NASA, and so we’re getting that information and hopefully within the next week or so we’ll be able to finalize that and take it to Cabinet to do a Cabinet information paper.”

How all of this will factor into Belize’s standings at this year’s COP Conference in terms of carbon credits and the benefits we are seeking is yet to be determined. Habet said that while a lot of the forests were burnt, only about ten percent of it was irretrievably destroyed. The rest, he said will regrow with time, and the current rains, coupled with the ashes that formed after the infernos are good for that regrowth to occur.

 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development

“We lose some credits if we cannot show that we prevented certain emissions. Really, we initially painted a picture of the area got burned and destroyed. It wasn’t burned and destroyed. They were affected by fire, but only about 10 percent from the information I’m getting was damaged to the extent that it will not regenerate. But most of it will regenerate. Now that the rains have come out, now all those seeds that are on the ground will find fertile soil, especially with the ashes providing a natural environment for growth. And so some of the fires were good for the Pine Ridge Mountain. The area near San Antonio, where we have the protected area for the Elijio Panti National Park, there was some damage, not extensive, but there was some damage. And so all that will be assessed so that we can put a value to it.”

Today the Ministry of Blue Economy held its second Climate Resilience Fair. It followed the Climate Resilience Forum on Thursday, and is a testament of the efforts of everyone, including the N.G.O. community, who have contributed to ensuring that Belize is more climate-resilient than it was in previous years. The fair also precedes World Oceans Day on Saturday, a day set aside globally to bring awareness to the important role the world’s oceans plays in life on the planet. News Five stopped in at the fair and spoke with a few of the people that made the event possible. Here’s that report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

The impact of climate change on the Earth has prompted countries to introduce measures that people can follow to slow down the process and, at best, reverse those impacts. Felicia Cruz, the Director of Blue Economy, says that the planet’s waterways have suffered immensely, not only from climate-related activity, but from human behaviour as well.

 

Felicia Cruz, Director, Blue Economy

“Our seas, of course, have been faced with unprecedented challenges, as you mentioned: climate change, over-fishing, pollution – it’s a combination of many factors that have affected our fishing sector. But at the end of the day, our government remains adamant in ensuring that we sensitize the people and that we also enforce the laws of Belize.”

 

 

 

The Wildlife Conservation Society has been actively engaging fishing and farming communities in methods to not only adopt, but to adjust those behavioural patterns that have helped to damage our planet. Communications Coordinator, Deseree Arzu says the focus is to help these communities develop their first-ever climate action and management plan.

 

 

 

 

 

Deseree Arzu, Communications Coordinator, Wildlife Conservation Society Belize Program

“We’re working in three communities in Belize of the M.F.C, of course, you’ve done the storytelling competition that we’ve had in the Maya Forest Corridor. So we’re working there to restore forests. We’re also working at Glover’s Reef, which is at Middle Key where we have our research station. And we’re working with Saltwater Key Marine Reserve as well, which Saltwater and Glovers are two of the areas where W.C.S. does a lot of research work. So we’re promoting nature based solutions in order to address climate change.”

 

Marion Ali 

“What message are you taking to these same communities to let them know that listen – climate change – a big part of it has to do with human behavior, human activity. A lot of the health of the environment has to do with what we do with the environment?”

 

 

 

 

Deseree Arzu

“Small things we can do like we keep saying this, but the more we repeat it I believe hopefully it sticks with people. Things like turning off the faucet when you’re brushing your teeth not throwing garbage on the in the environment and putting it in a bag until it reaches somewhere to place it in a secure location.”

 

 

 

Founded in 1987, the Hol Chan Marine Reserve is the first established marine reserve in Belize. Its responsibilities include monitoring and managing the reserve and working on projects such as the sea turtle nesting program in Ambergris Caye. Executive Secretary, Vicky Coc told us that visitors to Hol Chan follow the rules and regulations in keeping it as healthy as possible, for the most part.

 

 

 

 

Vicky Coc, Executive Secretary, Hol Chan Marine Reserve

“The people in San Pedro, we do care about our reef. As long as we keep working with them, we keep educating them and sharing with them about the do’s and don’ts, then we have a very positive community feedback. They actually respect, you know, our rules and regulations at the reserve. We also have our operations and enforcement team that is out at the reserve 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We can say that our guides and guests are very cooperative when it comes to that.”

 

 

 

Today’s climate-resilience fair was held a day before World Oceans Day on Saturday. Marion Ali for News Five.