PACT funds help El Pilar Maya site

The El Pilar Archaeological Reserve in Cayo is the latest beneficiary of small grants funding from the Protected Areas Conservation Trust. PACT, which is financed primarily by a seven dollar and fifty cent per person fee charged to departing tourists, has provided almost thirty-five thousand dollars to the project. Those funds will be used to collect data on the site’s biodiversity as well as to develop marketing strategies which will benefit the nearby village of Bullet Tree Falls. In addition, a sample curriculum will be developed for Sacred Heart Junior College and the Belize College of Agriculture on eco-archaeology and agro-forestry. Funds for the project are also being provided by the Ford Foundation and Help for Progress. El Pilar is the second Maya site assisted by PACT. The organisation had previously contributed funds for improvements at Cerros in Corozal.