How Belize is Safeguarding its Biodiversity
On International Day for Biodiversity is it easy for a country like Belize, with a long history of protecting our natural resources, to celebrate. In fact, there is a network of more than one hundred and ten protected areas countrywide, keeping sixty-one percent of our forested lands intact. News Five’s Andrea Polanco reports on why Belize’s biodiversity matters.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
In Belize, our economy is built on the foundation of robust biodiversity – from agriculture to tourism. Our existence as a people is dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems because these resources provide us with food, water, clothing, and even the air we breathe. Although these resources are important to our livelihood, and by extension, our survival, they are under extreme pressure.
Rasheda Garcia
Rasheda Garcia, Biodiversity Officer, National Biodiversity Office
“Some of the main challenges or threats to biodiversity in relation to the Belizean context include deforestation; forest fragmentation; pollution; the threat of unsustainable tourism because tourism relies heavily on our natural resources – we offer an eco-tourism based product however there are impacts to the resources. Transboundary incursion is also another threat that we have been facing for years especially along our western borders and also invasive species.”
…and because the mismanagement of biodiversity through harmful actions such as uncontrolled habitat destruction and hunting species to extinction can have lasting consequences, since the 1940’s Belize began to establish reserves like the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. Today, the preservation of Belize’s biodiversity is achieved through the establishment and maintenance of the National Protected Areas System which covers a little over forty-five percent of the country’s landmass. And these days a special unit called the National Biodiversity Office, which was set up one year ago, leads with the regulation, oversight and management of approximately half of the NPAS.
Hannah St. Luce Martinez
Hannah St. Luce Martinez, Director, National Biodiversity Office
“It was established to coordinate and champion the implementation of our national biodiversity strategy and action plan and to coordinate efforts related to protected area management and biodiversity at the national level. We also play a key role in coordinating in terms of coordinating our reporting and commitments to biological diversity; a convention which Belize became a party to in 1992. We have a team of approximately seven staff and so I ensure that we have those plans strategically aligned with our objectives and priorities; ensuring that we have the financial resources and physical resources, capacities required to implement the work that is mandated.”
To help get the work done, the National Biodiversity Office has reconvened the national protected areas advisory council. Their collective will help to guide the preservation and sustainable use of biodiversity that is needed to guarantee water and food security, as well as the use of forests and their role in climate change response.
Rasheda Garcia
“This is an important body that would oversee and provide direction as it pertains to decisions relevant to management of protected areas across the system of protected areas in Belize; so it is a platform that brings together multiple agencies directly involved in protected areas management who would then provide the direction and technical expertise needed to make informed management decisions for the improved management effectiveness of protected areas in Belize.”
But at the heart of the work of the protection and conservation of our natural resources are the Belizean people. Director Hannah St Luce Martinez says it is important that as we observe International Day for Biodiversity that Belizeans understand that we’re part of the solution for nature.
Hannah St. Luce Martinez
“We can do a lot more in terms of keeping ourselves informed of what are the challenges, the policies and regulations related to biodiversity use and management. Though I recognize that there are certain cultural needs, we must recognize that our resources are not bottomless wells. We need to raise that consciousness that we must value and safeguard our resources. This is not only the job of the technicians and the persons within the offices. These resources are here for the well-being of each and every one of us and I would like to see us take more ownership of the resources. I believe our people should also push for those regulations that allow them to have sustainable use because it is not to lock up the resources either. I am looking forward to the day when we recognize that these sites, these resources can actually provide that livelihood that we need. We saw that through the pandemic we’ve seen tourism come to a halt and we see so many people jobless – but our resources provide that opportunity for us to feed our families but we must always recognize that it must be done sustainably. So, I challenge every parent out there to speak to their kids, to instill in them that pride to being that custodian of our natural resources.”
Reporting for News Five, I’m Andrea Polanco.
