Turneffe Atoll Trust Says Parcel of Land Will Not Be Disturbed

Alex Anderson

According to Anderson, the five-acre piece of land is in a strategic position, preventing the development of the area for tourism. He says the land transaction will not include seabed or coral reefs. 

Alex Anderson, Executive Director, Turneffe Atoll Trust

“As you know a lot of studies show that for areas so pristine as Turneffe when you destroy mangroves when you compare that areas, where the mangroves have been removed to areas that have been kept natural there, is ten times more fish abundant in those areas. So that is one of the primary reasons why we are protecting it. It will not be developed. It will remain as is in a natural stated.”

Reporter

“By when do you expect the land transaction to be completed?”

Alex Anderson

“We are just setting up a meeting right now with the owners of the company that owns the property so I think in the next month or two we will be able to get the clearances to go ahead and purchase.”

Reporter

“And when they say thirty-thousand, is that just for the land purchase or the works that are to come?”

Alex Anderson

“Just for the land purchase.”

Hipolito Novelo

“Which does not include seabed or coral?”

Alex Anderson

“No. this is five acres of land. It is not seabed. It is not coral. Let me just clarify a little bit. It is an Israeli group and you have to recognize that Turneffe is the largest and the most biological coral atoll in the western hemisphere. Their journalist got wind of this and they confused coral atoll with the land. This is five acres of private land. It does not include seabed. It does not include the coral reef. The seabed and coral reef in Belize is not for sale. That is not something that we will ever entertain for anybody.”

In December 2018, the Turneffe Atoll Trust published findings which showed destructive developments at the marine reserve. Turneffe Atoll is the largest atoll in the Western Hemisphere. It is not a part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System-inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.