Environment - Channel 5 Belize

School Gardening and Its Importance in Education

The inaugural School Gardening Competition concluded earlier this week, ahead of the start of the National Agriculture and Trade Show. Twelve schools from across the country took part in the competition in the primary and secondary school categories. The idea is to promote agricultural education and sustainable farming practices among schools in Belize. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

School gardening is an invaluable educational tool for students at the primary and secondary levels because it provides a hands-on learning experience where students can apply biological and environmental science in real life. They can observe plant growth, understand soil composition, and learn about the importance of biodiversity. The National Agriculture and Trade Show steering committee found it fit to launch a competition to encourage students to engage in practical learning.

Emilio Montero, Ministry of Agriculture

“This year, for the first time, the NATS committee suggested if we can do a school garden competition which is what the Ministry of Agriculture promotes a lot, working with gardening in primary school, as well as in high schools. So the proposal was put to me to lead it since we work a lot with schools. So in November, I was tasked to promote the school garden competition. We designed a flier that was posted on our Facebook page for the ministry and very interestingly, a lot of schools countrywide wrote to us expressing their willingness to participate in the school garden competition.”

School gardens are a great way to teach students about nutrition. By growing their own fruits and vegetables, students can learn about healthy eating and benefits of fresh produce.

Emilio Montero

“Countrywide, from all six districts, we started with fifteen primary schools and eight high schools that wrote to us expressing their interest to participate.”

Students develop responsibility, patience, and teamwork as they work together to maintain the garden. They also learn planning and research skills as they decide what to plant and how to care for it.

Emilio Montero

“At the time when we started receiving letters of expression, right away we saw we had to put two categories, the primary school and the high school categories. That also gave us the task of developing what we call a rubric, what would we be looking for in the garden to grade them, to be as transparent as possible, and coming up with the best winning garden. So some of the criterion that we put forth was garden design, the implementation of the garden, a garden that would be showing agricultural techniques, kind of like irrigation systems, tackling pests and diseases, if there would be any, and if the garden was environmentally friendly.”

Gardening helps students understand their relationship with the environment. They learn about sustainability, conservation, and the impact of human activities on ecosystems. In essence, school gardening can enrich the curriculum, promote healthy lifestyles, and instill a sense of environmental stewardship in students.

Emilio Montero

“For primary school, the winner came out of Corozal District, in the name of San Victor RC, a Roman Catholic primary school and second place was San Antonio United Pentecostal out of Cayo District. In the high school category, we had Valley of Peace Seventh Day Adventist which came up with an innovative type of gardening, sustainable agriculture practices which is what the ministry is promoting. And second place, out of Orange Walk District is Belize High School of Agriculture. Now within the recognition, innovation and technology, innovation and research. The technology recognition award is going to be given to Itz’at STEAM Academy out of Belize City, Belize District. And for the innovation research it’s Corozal District in the name of Escuela [Secundaria] Tecnica Mejico.”

It’s a multifaceted educational approach that aligns well with the goals of agricultural education. Isani Cayetano for News Five.

BTV Raises Alarm Over Illegal Logging in Colombia Forest Reserve

The Belize Territorial Volunteers are raising alarm over the illicit harvesting of logwood in the Columbia Forest Reserve. A release from the BTV says that the organization recently conducted a four-day expedition within the reserve and stumbled upon thousands of board feet of lumber being illegally harvested by individuals from Guatemala. The statement further notes that a road has been established inside the reserve to facilitate this illegal activity. BTV is now calling on the Forest Department and the Belize Defense Force to swiftly intervene and put an end to these actions. We heard from one Punta Gorda resident courtesy of PG TV.

Valentino Tzub, Punta Gorda Resident

“Well we gone hunt and when we gone close to Machakil Ha Area and when we reached there, where the BDF stay, then we were walking there we saw the open road, inside the forest and that road come from Guatemala. When we reach there we see the road open and the tractor come there and we saw on both side of the road they cut the lumber there. They are cutting. That place looked like a hurricane pass there. All the lumber was on the ground. On both side of the road you could see the lumber. It is lone red on both side of the road. They are cutting mahogany, santa maria, sapodilla and the cedar.”

SCA Students Partner With Non-profit For Ocean Protection

Taking care of the ocean is a global effort. This is the lesson being imparted to one hundred and seventy first form students at Saint Catherine Academy by a team of volunteers from Saltwater Classroom, a non-profit organization. Saltwater classroom works with students from the United States, Mexico, and now Belize, to introduce an innovative approach to environmental education and foster an idea of ocean stewardship. The team hailed from Maine earlier this month and has spent the past five days conducting experiments and research activities with the students of S.C.A. News Five’s Britney Gordon visited the workshop to see how the team was wrapping up its final day of activities. Here’s the full story.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Over the past week a team of volunteers from Saltwater Classroom, a non-profit organization, has been working hand in hand with the teachers and students at Saint Catherine Academy to instill valuable lessons about ocean care and research. Head of the Science Department at SCA, Fredezia Lambey told us that this exciting initiative has been a goal for the academy for several years.

Fredezia Lambey, Head of Science Department, SCA

“So in this week, very exciting week, we’re having a five-day long workshop with our first form students. It’s a group from Maine called Saltwater Classroom, and it’s really just a workshop on ocean science, teaching our students a bit about the ocean as a global system and about ways to conserve and protect our oceans.”

Britney Gordon

“Talk to me about this group that came in. How did you get in contact with them? What kind of things are they teaching them?

Fredezia Lambey

“This has been a long anticipated project over about a span of three years before I was even here. But it has been how you’d say the reason for wanting to do this project. And the reason why we chose this project is really because as believes, our Caribbean Sea and our waterways are part of our identity, and there’s so much importance in the ocean and what the ocean does for us in terms of our livelihood, and we think that it’s really important for our first farmers and our students on a whole to see that see the importance of it with the hope to foster some stewardship in terms of ocean conservation, ocean protection, we want our students to have those core values instilled in them, and it all starts with education.”

Founder and Executive Director of Salt water Classroom, Alexandra Doudera, said that what drives her and her team to bring these lessons into classrooms is a desire to unite people in protecting a resource that is vital to everyone’s survival, no matter the age or where they are located.

Alexandra Doudera, Founder & Executive Director, Saltwater Classroom.

“We really see the ocean as a global unifier. We, no matter where you live are dependent on the ocean and connected to it in many ways. So, we see this as an opportunity to come together and bridge Geographic distances and cultural divides and really unite over a passion for the oceans, a commitment to their stewardship and this desire to keep learning.”

Today was the final day of activities for the students. Doudera explained that this activity is a culmination of the week’s lesson, allowing students to apply the lessons learned to create real-world solutions for issues plaguing the environment.

Alexandra Doudera

“So today one of my favorite lessons, the students are asked to choose an issue that is important to them, whether it’s habitat disruption or plastic pollution, or microplastics. And then spend some time brainstorming their own unique solution to the problem. There’s five different types of solutions. So a media or awareness campaign, a law or policy, an education strategy a redesign or an innovation, something totally new. So that’s what they’re working on right now.”

Six first form classes, consisting of about one hundred seventy students, participated. We spoke with Cassidy Centino, who shared what she’s learned from the experience.

Cassidy Centino, First Form Student, SCA

“Just recently, they took us to the seawall to perform different things with the seawater such as checking the solidity, acidity, and the temperature.”

Britney Gordon

“What’s something that you’ve learned as a part of this program?”

Cassidy Centino

“Well, I’ve learned many things because I’m not too familiar with the sea, so everything that I have learned is new such as major oceans, accessory oceans, and just different facts about them”

Another student, Addison Giron, also shared what she’s learned from the workshop and explained why she believes activities like this are important to participate in.

Addison Giron, First Form Student, SCA

“We also learned how to label a fish or different types of fish. We also learned how to check the temperature of the water, the acid, and stuff like that.”

Britney Gordon

“Why do you think it’s important to participate in activities like this?”

Addison Giron

“I think it’s important to learn activities like this because it is a part of our world and we need to show the world it’s important because we’re polluting the waters and stuff like that, and we need to show it’s a major part of the Earth.”

Saltwater Classroom has been in operation since 2018 and works closely with schools in Mexico, as the curriculum is available in Spanish. Doudera said that Belize is the second international country the team has partnered with.

Alexandra Doudera

“We did our first program in 2018 in Maine and we’ve been steadily growing since then. In addition to many programs in our home state we have a really strong relationship with a school and a community on the Pacific coast of Mexico. So we’ve taught there as well. But besides the United States and Mexico, Belize is our third international destination.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Will Controversial Land be De-reserved For a Fourth Time?

On Wednesday, Robert Lopez, the owner of Hummingbird Group Limited, a furniture manufacturing business, turned to the media to express his grievances with a group he identified as Hill Farming Cooperation. According to Lopez, his employees were met by a group of men from the cooperation drawing survey lines on property in the Maya Mountain Forest Reserve and act which he believes is encroaching on the long-term sustainable forestry license he acquired in 2022. Percival Cho was hired as a consultant by Lopez’s company to ensure adequate compliance with the regulations from the Forest Department. We spoke with Cho to learn more information on the matter.

Percival Cho, Consultant, Science for Sustainability Ltd.

“So the Maya Mountain Forest Reserve was a reserve declared a few decades ago.It is set aside as a reserve for the production of timber. So it’s it’s the word reserve is used in that context of timber production, right? Reserve in other contexts can also mean a wildlife reserve or a conservation reserve. But in this context, it’s for production of timber. It was amended in 2007. There was about a thousand acres that was dereserved. And this was done by the government. It went through the process. The land was de reserved to provide lots, agricultural lots for villagers around the area. And that went through and so the reserve had a new boundary. So it got a little bit smaller. In 2015, a second de reservation occurred. Again, through following the process through the government. And this was also, the purpose of it was to provide agricultural parcels to nearby communities. And the land that was the reserved was the flatlands, what we call flatlands south of the main my mountain block. So this is flatland. Seemingly it’s good for agriculture, but when you start to look at the soil quality and the, the nutrient levels and so forth in the soil. You realize quickly it’s not the best agricultural soils, but it’s indicative of the time we’re in, where most of the good agricultural soils have been cleared already planted for citrus or other crops. And any new demand for agricultural land would be going into the, what we call hinterlands, up in the lesser quality soils. And that’s what we’re looking at the moment. So it’s a resource constraint.”

Britney Gordon

“To your knowledge, the group that came in and started drawing up survey lines, what portion of it were they looking to section off? And how do you feel that this affects, the license that your client has?”

Percival Cho

“Yeah, so there’s still a portion of flat land available within the reserve. It’s very well stocked with timber on the timber that’s coming out from their sustainable produced. So there’s quite a lot of studies that goes into producing timber in that context. So this isn’t a traditional logging operation where people are going and cut trees. So so it’s well studied. All the trees are counted, and there’s a sustainability analysis that’s carried out to determine exactly how many trees can be cut. And so in this flat area, I think, is where the people who recently went in to look at surveying or parceling off the area. They’re focusing on the flat lands, the remaining flat lands within the reserve. Again, it’s not the best agricultural land and from experience, whenever these de reservations occur, yes, the initial intention is to provide the nearby villages with land, but so it turns out that you get, it’s a land economy we live in, so people sell land, and, wealthier people come in and buy three, four, five, six parcels, and eventually you have these huge farms. Owned by people who were not in the village and then it creates in a situation where people need land again. It’s a repeating revolving situation, and it can only lead to further erosion of the reserve.”

Cristo Rey Remains Without Running Water

Residents of Cristo Rey Village have been without running water in their homes for at least two weeks because of what they suspect is a problem with an underground pump. Chairman of the village, Wilmer Guerra told News Five that they started experiencing the problem from February and they thought it was an electrical issue in the powerhouse. The problem got worse a couple weeks ago and the village called in Area Representative Alex Balona to assist with solving the problem. Guerra explained that the Ministry of Rural Transformation has conducted an assessment but they have been waiting for the results.

Via Phone: Wilmer Guerra, Chairman, Cristo Rey Village

“We haven’t been successful in trying to get the system back to how it should be, so the Ministry of Rural Transformation did an assessment last week. But we’re still waiting for the recommendations to see what they will basically recommend or what the recommendation is, then, because at this point, what we’re thinking is either one, that the pump itself has gone bad or that the water well has receded enough that it doesn’t have enough water to pump for the village. But we were still waiting for that recommendation.”

Area Rep Says Water Crisis Will Be Resolved

The Area Representative for Cayo Central where Cristo Rey is located has been assisting with providing water to the villagers, according to Chairman Guerra. And this evening, Balona explained to us that he has been getting the water delivered to the village using a bowser, but that the challenge has been reaching some of the residents in the higher elevations. He said that the issue will be resolved by Monday.

Via Phone: Alex Balona, Area Representative, Cayo Central

“So far we got a secondary opinion and everything seems to be fine with the electrical part of the system, so what we are doing now is tomorrow with the assistance from the Ministry of Rural Transformation, we’ll be extracting the pump to find out what is there with the impellers or the line that feeds from the pump to the tank. So tomorrow we will actually know what is the problem on the line, but everything seems to be fine on the electrical part of it. Now the water board has been pumping every evening and most of the residents are getting their water at early morning. So we just came from out there and we were giving out water to those who didn’t get, but most of the people in the lower sections got water last night. Only the higher areas are the ones that didn’t get their waterWe are hoping that by the end of tomorrow we can give them some good news and we are hoping that everything is back to normal, even the school for Monday.”

Robert Lopez Claims Land Is at Risk of De-reservation

Hummingbird Group Limited, a Belmopan-based furniture manufacturing business, is speaking out against what they claim is a violation of its long-term sustainable forestry license. Founder and C.E.O., Robert Lopez stated that the company obtained a logging license in 2022. Lopez said that the company endeavored to hire a consultant to ensure that the logging was in alignment with the regulations of the Forestry Department’s conditions of the license. However, according to Lopez, his team was met by a group of men drawing survey lines. Lopez said that the land is at risk of being de-reserved and demands that the matter be addressed promptly. Here’s what he had to say on the matter.

Robert Lopez, CEO, Hummingbird Group Ltd.

“And so we just cut our first tree on March twentieth of this year, about a month ago. Now that we’re in the reserve, putting in our roads, and everything is monitored by the Forestry Department, they’re very strict with these long-term sustainable forestry licenses. We come upon, about a week ago, a group of men in the reserve cutting survey lines. And immediately, we call the Forestry Department, but our crew had an encounter with them. And they’re saying that they have met, and I have a recording and I will send it to you, because they specifically said, Minister Cordell Hyde, we met with him in 2022, January of 2022. And he has given us permission, they call themselves Green Hill Farming Cooperative, something to that effect. I got a call this morning that they’re in there again, and word is that Minister Mike Espat, has told them to go in and cut and that he will see to it that it gets de-reserved.” “So it was de reserved I think the last time in 2017 or 2016 for farmland. And so, everything was parceled out in thirty-acre parcels and given out to farms. I’ll tell you, most of the people sold their land for a pittance. Three hundred, five hundred for a thirty-acre parcel. Of course, you’re just buying a lease document. And then people get it transferred and purchased price and then you get title. But up to two weeks ago, I was offered thirty acres right in front of where we’re logging. From the de-reservation, and the guy wanted twenty thousand. I told him I’m not interested. He called back the following week and said, I’ll take fifteen thousand. So this is the record of these people that get land for farming. And I’m not afraid to say, most of them were Belizeans that got this, and they’ve sold it to aliens. Most of it is Honduran, Guatemalan, and other foreigners that own these lands. And some of them are major landholders that bought up ten, fifteen, twenty of these parcels and now have huge cattle ranches. In what was once the reserve. So is that what they want to do again? Give out another thousand acres and split it up? When are we gonna learn to preserve what we have? What we have is long term sustainable license.”

Dangriga Town Council Builds Picnic Area for Residents

The municipal elections are history and the projects that the winning city and town councils had campaigned on are expected to be rolled out over the next three years. In Dangriga, one such initiative is already coming to fruition and today, Mayor Robert Mariano shared with us that they’ve been able to construct a bandstand near the seaside that residents will be able to access free of cost, complete with barbeque facilities for family picnics. Mariano says that the location in the Wahima Beach area precedes other infrastructure projects in Dangriga.

Robert Mariano, Mayor, Dangriga

“We are building a bandstand and the bandstand is completed. The next phase is to be, to do painting and other decoration, putting electricity and so on. We’re expecting that project to complete by the end of this month. Also we have already started working on the different parks. And so I’m hopeful that by the end of this month, all the parks will be touched as well. Thank you. I went around and did physical checks on our parks and noticed that it is not well painted. Some of the chairs are broken and so on. And so I have directed the personnel in charge of works to ensure that what need to be repaired. And what need to be repainted, let’s repaint them. But we will need to put some brightness in our tongue. And so we’ll be working because we need to make Danger Gang more child friendly. And that is the reason why the next phase. Now is to compete with different parks and then since we are in the dry, we’re also looking at doing some new streets around that regard as well.”

Belize Signs On To the Tuna Transparency Pledge

The Tuna Transparency Pledge is an initiative led by the Nature Conservancy that is seeking to achieve one hundred percent on-the-water monitoring by 2027. Belize joined the Federated States of Micronesia, Walmart, Albertson companies, and Thai Union as one of the first signatories of the pledge. The endeavor was launched to combat unstainable and illegal practices in tuna fisheries by uniting key players across the seafood supply chain. We spoke with the Deputy Director of Belize High Seas Fisheries Unit, Robert Robinson, who explained the process in more detail.

Robert Robinson, Deputy Director, Belize High Seas Fisheries Unit

“The pledge seeks to achieve one hundred percent underwater monitoring by all the signatories and by 2027. And what this will do, all the signatories who will be at different levels in the supply chain will ensure that their tuna, is either coming from a source that is under covered by underwater monitoring or the governments will ensure that all vessels operating under their jurisdiction are covered by underwater monitoring. And by underwater monitoring, that means. either human observer or electronic monitoring means.”

Britney Gordon

“And how does that benefit to the production and acquisition of tuna?”

Robert Robinson

“Well, people across the world have been increasingly concerned about where their food is coming from specifically seafood. And what this helps to do is to bring full transparency to the tuna supply chain. So that consumers are comfortable and confident that their seafood was sustainably caught. There is a large black market where illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is concerned. And this industry represents somewhere around sixty billion dollars per year. Recent estimates indicate this figure. And what this pledge will, will help to do as more people sign on to it, it will bring full transparency to the tuna fishing industry and will help to eradicate IUU fishing. So it will be a big win for sustainability and for good stewardship for, for world’s marine resources.”

Belize To Implement On-the-water Monitoring System By 2026

The launch of this initiative coincides with Belize’s mission to implement an electronic monitoring program that its distant water industrial fishing fleet by 2026. This program is intended to enhance Belize’s monitoring, control, and surveillance framework and improve the effectiveness of its human observation program. Robinson explained.

Robert Robinson, Deputy Director, Belize High Seas Fisheries Unit

“IUU is illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and that really covers the full gamut of illegal activities because there are some activities that are not necessarily, that are not necessarily regulated and this also falls under the scope of IUU fishing. So, if something is regulated and unregulated, If a fisherman would intentionally contravene that regulation, that is illegal fishing. If you catch something and you don’t report it, that would constitute unreported fishing. And if there is no regulation concerning particular fishery and they engage in it, then that would constitute unregulated fishing. So two years ago, the Belize High Seas Fisheries Unit undertook an exercise to determine how it could enhance its monitoring, control and surveillance framework. And we already have in place a vessel monitoring system that tracks the vessels, wherever they are in the world via satellite-based means. We have a human observer program, which covers a large percentage of the fleet. And we have a discharge inspection program, which allows us to know what the vessels are discharged after, um, their fishing expedition. And together with that, you also submit catch reports, which is basically the fisherman’s love book to declare his catches. No we found that by true introduction of electronic monitoring, it would really close a loophole that exists within our MCS framework. And we will have almost real time monitoring of our vessels while they’re engaged in fishing operations. And we will be able to take immediate action. For any noncompliance events that we detect through the electronic monitoring means.”