TIDE Rangers Patrol Private Protected Areas

As you saw earlier in the newscast with the swearing in of the Shipstern wardens as special constables, there are many young people attracted to working in conservation and protecting Belizean wildlife and natural ecosystems.  This is also the case for those employed by the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment.  This N.G.O. manages over twenty-thousand acres of private lands in southern Belize, some of which were purchased as part of the ‘Debt for Nature Swap’ agreement between the governments of Belize and the United States. The deal allowed Belize to exchange debt for forest conservation funding. Someone has to monitor these areas, to protect both the wildlife and the communities that border them.  This is where the TIDE rangers come in. Jose Sanchez went along with Ranger Che to see what a typical day is like out on the TIDE lands.

[A Typical Day as a TIDE ranger….]

According to the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, TIDE’s goal for its private protected lands is to conserve, maintain and restore tropical forest ecosystems in order to sustain human life through the provision of clean air and water and a safe haven for critical wildlife. In addition to conducting patrols, TIDE rangers carry out conservation education in schools and general public.