Symposium calls for less politics, more law enforcement
The third annual Symposium on the State of Belize’s Environment concluded today at the Belize Biltmore Plaza and once again there was a large turnout. By all accounts, the forum, which looked at just about every aspect of Belize’s marine and land resources and how people are using, or misusing them, was a resounding success. If there were any suggestions for improvement they were that the audience be given more time for questions and comments and that the politicians be invited to sit in on the sessions, not just the opening ceremonies next time. Recurrent themes were the need for the government and the various conservation agencies, fishing coops and other grassroots organizations to work together, and that politics should never interfere with the need to enforce existing laws or protect Belize’s natural habitats and wildlife. News Five spoke with a number of the participants over the past two days. Each had a point of view, a comment or an appeal to make.
Valdemar Andrade, Belize Audubon Society
“I think for too long we have discussed this issue and what happens in the end the fishing community has strong lobbies so they go back to the Minister and they get the shrimp farming back on their agenda. I think the only way to solve this is to have hard and fast data to show that this fish is really destructive. There is very good evidence that it is a very destructive industry. However, if we don’t have something to go to the fishing community with, some hard and fast data showing bi-catch level, showing that it’s destroying our reef, showing that it is destroying sport fishing grounds, we cannot truly say that the shrimp trawling industry is totally destructive or take it off the agenda.”
Philip Gabourel, Pres., Southern Fishermen’s Cooperatives
“I have been a part of TIDE working, consulting with the people of Toledo both the people on the street, in schools, high schools to try to get the Port Honduras build signs so that we can see some achievements in tourism and the fishing industry for Toledo. Unfortunately because of politics we have not gotten our full share in the Toledo District. So I think that with this symposium and with our directors who are from Punta Gorda Wil Maheia, he has brought an important message to the people so that we can have this Port Honduras thing signed very quickly. And I want to comment the government of today to please look at this issue for the Toledo people.”
Phillip Waight
“There’s lots of questions I want to ask from all areas, the solid waste areas, the management. The one I am looking forward to is the hydro production and the energy production because my field is basically the energy. But I think as I said it is very interesting but we are not getting the feedback, the communication. These people present a paper, we have our opinions, we want to discuss it and instead of us having that ability there is a time constraint. Maybe it should be a four-day program, I don’t know.”
Rudy Burgos, Belize Audubon Society
“The main thing is that we have the choice of having a clean, healthy environment that will bring us shelter, economic activities or we have the environment where we only make money right now and there is nothing there for our future generations. That’s the main thing we wanna show here. If you notice the pictures all show you things that are really ugly in my opinion: oil spills, very muddy rivers, roads that are torn up by loggers, abandoned vehicles. Other pictures are very nice. We just wanna show that very big difference between a good environment and a bad environment.”
Orlando Garcia, Scouts Association of Belize
“Without a doubt we cannot rule out scouts participation in the protection and conservation of our environment. We very much believe that these young minds must be educated as to the importance of protecting their environment. Our association has taken a bold step to participate in various cleanup campaigns and educate our children that it’s about time we start protecting our environment.”
Ismael Fabro, Director, Department of the Environment
“It’s really a nice opportunity for those that are in there to be informed as to what our various sectors are doing with respect to the implementation of this concept here. We’ve had active participation from the floor. You can see difference of opinions being expressed, people asking questions, and having some of these concerns addressed right there on the floor.”
Q: “Do you think this reflects growing public awareness on environmental issues, that it’s not just environmentalists or conservationists that are here?”
Ismael Fabro
“I think that is the good thing about it, that we are seeing not only an elevated awareness with respect to the need for us to protect our environment but the need for us to have that environmental equilibrium with respect to Belize’s development. I think we need to transcend now, we need to go to another level where we’re not just talking about environmental preservation, conservation but we’re talking about balancing our environmental needs with the social and economic realities that exist in Belize.”
The symposium was jointly sponsored by the Department of the Environment, the Belize Audubon Society and the Protected Areas Conservation Trust, PACT. The D.O.E. estimates that over four hundred fifty people participated.
