Ministry of Blue Economy Launched the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan
In November 2021, the Government of Belize and The Nature Conservancy brokered a deal that helped to reduce Belize’s international debt, better known as the Super Bond. That debt conversion will generate the country an estimated three hundred and sixty million dollars which would be invested in long-term ocean conservation – ergo the Blue Bond. As part of the agreement, Belize committed to protecting thirty percent of its ocean, as well as other conservation actions by 2029. And to ensure that that happens, today, the Belize Marine Spatial Plan was launched. News Five’s Duane Moody finds out more about what it is all about.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Government and non-governmental organizations today witnessed the launch of the Belize Marine Spatial Plan which is a framework under the blue bonds agreement that seeks to pull together all stakeholders involved in the marine sector. It is not limited to the fisheries sector, but also the tourism industry and all those who have been and continue to benefit from Belize’s waters. But the goal is to establish the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan.
Beverly Wade
Beverly Wade, Director, Blue Bonds & Project for Finance Permanence
“When you look at sectors like the fisheries sector which continues to contribute meaningfully to our national economy, we have to ensure that those systems that support a vibrant fisheries sector are healthy and they are productive. Tourism, our number one foreign exchange income earner, forty-one percent it is said of all tourists who come to Belize engage in some sort of marine activities. We are a natural capital based economy and so what the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan will now do, it represents forward movement in us rationalising how we approach the resources within our blue space.”
Julie Robinson
Julie Robinson, Program Director, TNC
“It is about protection of biodiversity, so there are ecological objectives in there, but there’s also social objectives and economic objectives. So it is really about how do we best design our ocean space to meet all these multiple objectives to ensure that while we are maintaining our natural resources, we are devoting it in a sustainable way that will enable for a prosperous country going forward.”
It’s a five-year process in which the data collected will establish a comprehensive picture of what’s happening within Belize’s waters and will, in the end, be used to determine the guidelines for the do’s and don’ts in national marine spaces.
Kennedy Carrillo
Kennedy Carrillo, C.E.O., Ministry of Blue Economy
“We will no longer be reactive in the decisions that we have to make when a development proposal comes to a desk. We will not have to sit and consult at that point whether it should be approved or not. The Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan will provide us with those boundaries as to we can do this here, but we cannot do it here. You can build here, but you are not allowed to build there. You can fish here, but you cannot fish here.”
Andre Perez
Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy
“Yes we are going to have challenges, yes we are going to have conflicts, yes we are going to have controversies, but if we follow the guidelines that anyone who is to come here and invest, we have something in writing. The marine spatial plan is something that is there to guide us and protect us and if everyone sticks to those principles we are going to be doing well.”
Julie Robinson
“Just like any other relationship, there is going to be compromises. You are not going to get everything you want. You’re gonna have to comprise; I am going to have to compromise, but we do it together and that is how we are going to ensure that have a plan that we can enact into the future that will serve the purposes for social, economic and ecological objectives.”
The plan will seek to address issues, including overfishing, the use and misuse of our marine space, construction of over-the-water structures and even tapping into economic opportunities such as deep sea fishing. But what about other policies, such as the cruise port policy, which are being drafted?
Beverly Wade
“What the marine spatial plan does is affords an opportunity to now bring in all of these policies and sectoral plans in a more structured way and to allow now for us to have – I believe the word blueprint was being used a lot this morning in the various speeches – it allows us to now have a blueprint that has the considerations from all of these sectors. It’s a five-year process and the processes can happen parallel to each other. For instance, there is a port policy that is being revised. I understand that there is a tourism development policy that is also being looked at – excellent – because these things will be happening at the same time. It’s formulation process is being guided by a steering committee where all these sectors sit on. And the idea is that each sector will ensure that during that five-year process that their particular sectoral considerations are now brought to the table so that we have a truly integrated approach to the blue space.”
G.O.B. has committed to complete and implement a legally enforceable Marine Spatial Plan and designate up to thirty percent of its ocean in Biodiversity Protection Zones by November fourth, 2026. Duane Moody for News Five.
