F.C.D. Has Ambitious Plans for its Portion

Rafael Manzanero

Rafael Manzanero, the executive director of F.C.D., welcomes the resources as his organization and its Guatemalan partner, Asociacion BALAM continue to fight illegal Guatemalan incursions for land and natural resources. He explains the need for a greater coalition of partners to help spread the word.

Rafael Manzanero, Executive Director, F.C.D.

“Essentially, we have been saying over the last years that we need to have a presence; but it does not only refers to a presence of the F.C.D. rangers; [what] we are talking [about] also occurs with the support of the B.D.F. and the police, primarily and in this case, we are joyful that also the Forest Department now will be available to join us on the ground in those conservation posts. The other second intervention is the public outreach and environmental education. At F.C.D. we have two environmental educators, one in Belize and one in Guatemala; because the idea is that we need to promote the importance of the Chiquibul and also the goods and services that these areas are able to provide. And the third intervention, that perhaps it becomes more instrumental to put this across the border in Guatemala, is the aspect of sustainable livelihoods. Under this program, under the Ministry, we will also be able to work in the Vaca Forest Reserve, where there are communities such as Benque Viejo, Arenal and Succotz. So we hope that we’ll be able now to institute a full-fledged landscape management program in the Vaca, and we are going to do it also in partnership with our Guatemalan counterparts, to share experiences and lessons on how to work the land as farmers in the area, but through sustainable means.”

For his part, Minister Figueroa expects that sustained funding of about two million dollars annually can be found through the Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT), although it will not nearly be enough to cover what is really needed.