PACT begins 7th year with new initiative
It has disbursed over two million dollars in grants, largely to grass roots environmental groups in communities scattered across the country. Today, the Protected Areas Conservation Trust was at it again with a donation of eight motorcycles to six different recipients. At a luncheon today in Belize City those vehicles were handed over and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Johnny Briceño, took the opportunity to let PACT know just how much he appreciates its work. News 5’s Stewart Krohn reports.
Johnny Briceño, Minister of Nat. Resources/Environment
“The issues of poverty alleviation, and you might be thinking, what does PACT have to do with poverty alleviation, but we firmly believe that whatever protected areas that we have that the communities that live beside that must benefit from it, and it must benefit through economic activities that can be created in the protection of these areas.”
Stewart Krohn, Reporting
The occasion for the minister’s remarks was the handing over of motorcycles to be used in various protected areas. But the event was also a ceremony of recognition that, at the start of its seventh year, PACT is ready to play a greater role in the protection and enhancement of Belize’s environment.
Valerie Woods, Executive Director, PACT
“There is a lot of potential out there for PACT and an institution like PACT. And we have yet to tap into that potential to its maximum. But we’ve come a long way.”
And while on the surface, that seven dollar and fifty cents paid by each departing tourist and two dollars per cruise passengers adds up to a lot of cash, PACT’s Executive Director, Valerie Woods, says that if we really want to get serious about managing our protected areas, new funds will have to be accessed.
Valerie Woods
“We are a under two million dollar trust fund, two million Belize dollars. That is not a lot of money when only about five, six years ago it was estimated that it costs about six million Belize dollars to just barely meet the operational expenses of protected areas. And yes, we have signed a lot of cheques, but they’re not big cheques, they’re only thirty-five thousand, often times they’re under thirty-five thousand, and they are meeting a lot of peripheral needs. This year what we’re tying to focus on is to go after macro-multi-year projects, so that if we give out only three, it’s fine because it’s the quality of the project that we’re aiming for, not the quantity.”
But as the quantity of cruise ship and overnight visitors to Belize continues to mushroom, so too will the demand for improved natural resource management. According to Environment Minister Johnny Briceño, government is up to the task.
Johnny Briceño
“These thousands upon thousands of visitors that come, they come to visit the pristine rainforest, our beaches and the natural beauty that we have. So we must find a way how is it that we can conserve it and that we can protect it so that these people can continue to visit Belize. And this is the challenge that we have.”
Stewart Krohn for News 5.
The Korean motorcycles, along with eight helmets, cost approximately eighteen thousand dollars. They will be used by the Belize River Keepers, Sibun Watershed Association, Belize Audubon Society, Programme for Belize, the Forestry Department and Fisheries Department.
