Large scale damage feared to reef

Hurricane Iris not only wreaked havoc on human lives and infrastructure, but also on Belize’s pristine natural environment. One of the major ecological victims is expected to be Belize’s Barrier Reef along with numerous patch reefs and cayes. Although the damage is now being assessed, we asked Ecosystems Management Unit co-ordinator James Azueta to describe the kind of damage that researchers could expect to find.

James Azueta, Ecosystems Management Unit Co-ordinator

“A lot of damage will be done to the soft corals and some of the hard corals.”

Ann-Marie Williams

“What sort of implications that will have on maybe the fishing industry?”

James Azueta

“A lot of habitat is destroyed. Lobsters especially, need habitats to hide and to grow and if the habitat is lost it can have a lot of damage to the fishing industry, mostly lobster; fish will come back eventually.

With Keith, we had some damage, but the winds came from the west-southwest, so the damage to the fore-reef, the outside of the Barrier Reef, was minimal. We expect the damage to the fore-reef to be more in this case. The spore and groove formations, we expect a lot of sand to be taken out and be flow on top of the reef system also.”

The Coastal Zone Management Authority is expected to complete their initial analysis of the reef on Friday. Hurricane Iris passed over some of the nation’s most beautiful islands, including the three Silk Cayes and Laughing Bird Caye National Park.