A New Approach To Conservation Conversations

The Belize Fund For A Sustainable Future wants Belizeans to get involved in its mission. The private non-profit conservation trust fund endeavors to open up a dialogue regarding marine conservation and its mission of creating a transparent and inclusive financing mechanism in order to achieve that goal. The fund held a media sensitization presentation today in order to inform the media what their objectives are and how the fund works. Executive Director, Doctor Leandra Cho-Ricketts spoke with us about their goals for the fund moving forward.

Leandra Cho-Ricketts

Dr. Leandra Cho-Ricketts, Executive Director, BFFASF

“We felt it was very important to have a one on one with the media, seeing that the media is an important partner in sharing information about the fund, the importance of the fund and the work it’s doing. And we wanted to have an opportunity to have a direct engagement with the media, just them because we’ve invited the media to various activities we’ve had. But we want to ensure that going forward, the media is aware of who the fund is and the work. So we can build these relationships to ensure that we have a good partnership over time. Because the fund is here for, as you heard, indefinitely, and the funding coming from the Blue Bond that’s supporting the programs currently is here for at least 20 years. So we want to ensure that we can start this relationship and keep it going. The whole blue bond, as it was put together, is a whole debt for nature swap and it’s debt restructuring, which is a public priority. It’s to assist the public overall, right? So the public should know what’s happening. with the proceeds of that. And the funds we manage are public funds, essentially, because it’s funding going back from the government, going into conservation. So it’s important to be transparent about how that’s being spent and to have everyone know how the funding goes, to dispel a lot of the current misconception or misperceptions that people have.  In regards to roadblocks, I think the biggest one would be the ability for the non government groups, especially your smaller community groups and associations to access the funding. Because as you heard, we explained, we have a structure. A part of transparency for public funds is, and any conservation fund, you have a process. It’s not just anyone that can come and say, I want this money, I’ll just get it. You have to meet these criteria. So we find that the capacity is not always there for smaller groups, community groups, in terms of their registration and their ability to manage and report on the funds. So we are working with partners within the government and private sector to see how we can create a program to help build that capacity so we have greater access by smaller groups.”