Ministry of Blue Economy Launches Reef Resilience Strategy

This morning, the Ministry of Blue Economy in collaboration with the Belize Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute launched its Strategy for Reef Resilience in Belize. The strategy has been in the works for the past two years. It sets out a number of milestones to be achieved over the next two years with the intent of strengthening the management of Belize’s Barrier Reef. We spoke with Kennedy Carillo, the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Blue Economy.

Kennedy Carillo

Kennedy Carillo, C.E.O., Ministry of Blue Economy

“It is a super opportunity to bring together very important partners who are involved in the conservation of our barrier reef. We are launching the reef resilience strategy that we have been working on, through the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute. And it is a collaborative effort with the University of Belize ERI program as well Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association. And we are very excited that after two years, um, we are finally having the opportunity to launch this and also prepare now for the implementation of the strategy. I think that every single Belizean recognizes the value of our barrier reef and the love that we as a people have for our barrier. But more and more we recognize that there are threats such as the threat of climate change. We see a lot of coral disease and so forth, and we need to prepare. We need to have a plan. And s,o I think from the perspective of the blue economy, we recognize that if we are going to really be able to take advantage of our  blue resources and our barrier reef to move our economy, obviously we also have to take very good care of it.”