New centre opened at Bacalar Chico
Once upon a time–and it was not that long ago–Belize’s sole maritime protected area was a tiny patch of sea surrounding Half Moon Caye. Today it’s a different story, with nearly a dozen marine reserves covering large areas of the cayes, reefs, and atolls. Yesterday News 5’s Jacqueline Woods was on hand for a major upgrade on one of our northernmost protected areas.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Bacalar Chico National Park and Marine Reserve is situated ten miles north of San Pedro Town. The reserve, a World Heritage site, straddles the Belize Barrier Reef and is right on the doorstep of Mexico. So you can understand why it’s in the best interest of both countries to protect the biodiversity that exists in the area. The monitoring is conducted under the Meso-American Barrier Reef System Project, a regional project that focuses on trans boundary protected areas.
Noel Jacobs, Regional Director, M.B.R.S.
“From here mainly patrols ensuring the integrity of the boundaries of the protected area, especially the intrusion of visitors from Mexico, who may not know that this is a reserve or they may know but perceive that there is an absence in terms of enforcement and decide to take their chances.”
Mindful of that encroachment, authorities patrol the area for illegal fishing and other illicit activities. But the site is an excellent location for students and other visitors to learn more about our marine resources. Despite becoming quite popular with tourists, there was nothing in place to facilitate an organised visit to the protected area…that is until Wednesday.
Minister of Fisheries, Servulo Baeza, and Minister of the Environment, John Briceño, officially opened a coastal resources multi-complex building that will also function as a visitors centre.
Noel Jacobs
“They will not just come to the protected area for the protected area sakes, there is something organised structured. There is a visitor’s centre where they can review materials, information on the protected area, they can do the nature walk, they can do snorkelling. There are a lot of things to do, Bacalar Chico offers a diversity.”
In his address to the gathering, Minister of Fisheries Servulo Baeza spoke about the recently formed National Protected Areas Task Force and what this group will do to further conserve Belize’s natural marine resources.
Servulo Baeza, Minister of Fisheries
“Today, Belize, like many developing nations, is faced with the challenges of finding that balance between conservation and utilisation. We are currently in the process of developing a National Protected Areas Policy and System Plan, which we hope will take very seriously the social and economic realities into consideration when approaching the whole issue of protected areas.”
Minister Briceño says it is important that all Belizeans to benefit.
Johnny Briceño
“Unfortunately, here in Belize we have a poverty rate that’s way too high for us. It’s approximately over thirty percent. This is unacceptable for us, but in the region it gets even worse, we have even high rates of poverty. And for these people, if they have no-I would not say no regard because they do know and love and appreciate nature and the beauty that we have, but when they see a tree they know that they need to cut it to try to sell it to make a few dollars to bring bread on the table. We have to ensure that-show them ways that they can benefit directly and economically; it’s about money.”
Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
The building was constructed by Fabro Industries at a cost of over two hundred and eighty-nine thousand dollars. Funding for the project was provided by the U.N.’s Global Environmental Facility and the governments of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
