Co-management agreement signed for Sapodillas
With new infrastructure and increasing economic activity gradually working its way south, the focus in Toledo is also shifting towards preservation of the district’s natural resources. This morning an agreement was signed which should enhance the future of one of Toledo’s crown jewels: the Sapodilla Cayes. The memorandum of understanding, signed by the Fisheries Department and Toledo Association for Sustainable Tourism and Empowerment, TASTE, calls for TASTE and Fisheries to co-manage the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve. That management will seek to stabilize the area’s fishing resources and develop the cayes and reef for tourism in an environmentally sensible way. The Sapodillas, lying at the southern end of Belize’s barrier reef, are among the country’s most beautiful islands. They sit approximately thirty miles from Placencia in the north, Punta Gorda to the west and Honduras and Guatemala to the south. Both neighbouring countries have at various times made territorial claims on the cayes and their citizens visit them frequently. Back in 1992 News 5’s Debbie Scott took a long boat trip to the Sapodillas and what she found in many ways justified the steps taken this morning.
Debbie Scott
“Sunrise in Belize City, the rains of last night and early this morning have gone, we have a beautiful day ahead of us. Today we’re going to Hunting Caye, we won’t be flying nor will we be driving, we’ll be taking a boat one hundred miles down and one hundred miles up Belize’s world famous barrier reef. The Fisheries Department is taking us along to view cleanup efforts on one of Belize’s southernmost cayes.”
There is very little sitting space on the fisheries boat, but even if there were, we wouldn’t use it; the seas are a bit rough. For most of the way we see small cayes dotting the horizon. Our captain Romey Badillo and assistant captain Liston McCord can name all of these cayes. This one is beautiful Tobacco Caye, it sits practically on the reef.
Our destination is Hunting Caye, it is one of a group of cayes called the Sapodillas, the same cayes that Guatemala wanted under the Heads of Agreement.
“When people think of the cayes, they think of white sandy beaches, green coconut trees and blue water. They don’t think of this, garbage. And on Hunting Caye, most of the garbage is said to come from Guatemala.”
Peter Raines
“The biggest problem here on Hunting Caye is waste management. At the moment, it’s just not being managed at all. Waste is either being thrown onto the caye itself, or worst still, be thrown in plastic bags onto the reef, which is even worst.”
Once the Guatemalans and Hondurans clear immigration in Punta Gorda or with the policeman stationed on Hunting Caye, they have a wide range of cayes on which to play.
Peter Raines
“They bring a lot of rubbish with them basically, cans of beer and so forth, and plastic plates, plastic knives and forks, those kinds of things, and then they tend to leave them on the island rather that take them home with them. That is the major problem in terms of litter on this island. It’s formed unfortunately from visiting Guatemalans who camp overnight and then leave the rubbish here.”
The Fisheries Department has asked the Coral Caye Conservation Group based on South Water Caye to cleanup the island and take the trash away. Earl Young is a research assistant with the Coastal Zone Management Programme, a division of Fisheries.
Earl Young
“For the Fisheries Department, it is a problem of garbage as well as a problem in the number of tourists who come out here to spend time on the cayes, especially Hunting Caye. For the other ministries it may also be a problem of national security as well because this is one of the base for the British Soldiers.”
After Coral Caye Conservation volunteers put all the litter away in garbage bags, they load it on to this RPL, which then takes it to Belize City to be dumped. Mark Hardman is the coxswain of the RPL and said he’s seen hundreds of people at a time on Hunting Caye.
Mark Hardman
“We’ve been here quite a few times and especially over a public and bank holiday, there’ve been well over a hundred of them here. It’s mostly Guatemala people who use it.”
Another aspect of the problem is that the caye does not offer any public sanitary facilities. As a result the visitors have built this makeshift and unsightly outdoor toilet.
The cleaning up effort is only a temporary measure to keep Hunting Caye clean. Someone–more than likely the Fisheries Department–will need to come up with a long-term solution.
Earl Young
“The Fisheries Department is charged with that responsibility to do a management plan for this area and we will be addressing for example the garbage problem as well as the foreign tourists that come out to these cayes. I do believe that there will be some sort of fees paid by the operators in Guatemala and by the tourists to have use and enjoyment of the cayes. I think that will be used for paying salaries to maybe garbage collectors on the cayes and maybe for patrol rangers. What I would like to see happen is for the garbage to be taken back where it came from, and that is from Guatemala and Honduras.
Hunting Caye is a hundred miles away from Belize City, and for that reason many of us may not care about what happens there. Why we should care goes beyond the issue of paper plates and empty beer cans. The Sapodilla range of cayes is perhaps the most beautiful and therefore most valuable part of the entire barrier reef. If we don’t want to lose it, we’ve got to use it and do so wisely. Debbie Scott for News 5.
Since this story was done in 1992, a greater Belizean presence has been maintained at Hunting Caye. This morning’s signing of the co-management agreement should further protect the area’s environment and territorial integrity. Debbie Scott, by the way is still enjoying the good life as manager of Captain Morgan’s Retreat, the Ambergris Caye location made famous on the television show “Temptation Island.”
