FCD Commissioned Study Reveals Startling Facts

Illegal logging within the Chiquibul Forest remains one of the foremost causes of biodiversity loss within the national park.  An assessment of the problem to determine its scale was commissioned by Friends for Conservation and Development and conducted over a two-year period, between 2010 and 2012.  A recent report concludes that almost three million board feet of cedar has been hauled out of the Cayo District, with an estimated commercial value of approximately eight and a half million Belize dollars.  Almost three million board feet of Mahogany at an estimated cost of ten million Belize dollars has been illegally extracted.  That was three years ago.  A recent study conducted by FCD indicates that an estimated eighteen point eight million U.S. dollars in illegally logged lumber has been removed from the area.  From May 2014 to May 2015 logging activity has increased by three point three percent but no new illegal logging activity has been reported in the Chiquibul Forest since September of last year.