Will Belize Be Removed From UNESCO Danger List?

Fanny Douvere

But has the government put in place measures to maintain the integrity of the ecosystem? According to Doctor Fanny Douvere, there has been some improvement, but there are three to five issues that need to be addressed over the course of the coming years. If the necessary policies are put in place in a socioeconomic, but environmentally friend way, the Belize Barrier Reef could be removed from the danger list. 

Dr. Fanny Douvere, Coordinator, Marine Program, UNESCO World Heritage Center

“I believe strongly and we’ve confirmed with the various government officials that it is not necessary to wait too long. I think there is a lot of capacity in the country, there is a lot of excellent expertise in the country and it is certainly possible to take the decisions that need to be taken. Some of the targets might require a little bit of additional expertise so we are trying to provide a little bit more time for those. We are still in the middle of discussing with the government the actual feasible time frame, but we are not looking at another five years on the danger list. I think that’s likely not necessary; I think all the potential is there to make that shorter. What it is that we are really trying to do is to work with the county as constructive as we can and that has been going very constructive here to try to find a solution that works both socioeconomically and environmentally. So we have heard the N.G.O.s, we have talked to them throughout the week, but we are not N.G.O.s so we might have different opinions over different components when it comes to some of the critical points that we on the side of UNESCO really feel are crucial important to get off the danger list. Now in response to your first question—whether there is positive trends—the answer is definitely yes. We originally when we were here in 2009, we had invasive species on the list. We were at the time very concerned apart from the other issues about lionfish and the way it was dealt with and the way it potentially had an impact on the ecosystem. And that is something that’s very well taken into account and that is today is something that is not really part of our concerns that are still remaining. So there are very positive trends and positive strides forward. Also for example with the integrated Coastal Zone Management Plans which we understand are now about to be approved. So we see this, this is very marked progress from the situation that it was in 2009.”

There are still some more meetings by the UNESCO technical team before it leaves the country. The last visit by UNESCO was back in 2013.