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According to Ports Commissioner Merlene Bailey-Martinez, charges can be filed by both the Belize Port Authority and the Department of Environment in incidents like this, but the D.O.E. normally takes the lead when it comes to environmental issues. According to the Harbours and Merchant Shipping Act, charges for negligence in causing the destruction to the […]
Written on February 11, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
Miscellaneous,
People & Places |
Comments Off on Will Charges be Levied Against Negligent Party?
News spread like wildfire on Sunday evening on social media as images surfaced of an anchor grounded near Long Caye in the Lighthouse Reef Atoll. The area is known as one of the most popular dive site because of the diverse marine life and the corals located there. While tours were underway, a yacht which […]
Written on February 10, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Anchor Grounded on Reef near Long Caye
Today, we did a search on the location of the vessel. According to the information, the Samadhi yacht, which was built back in 2006, is registered to the Cayman Island. Just before news time tonight, the pleasure craft is located in the Gulf of Honduras. The overall length of the vessel is about two hundred […]
Written on February 10, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Samadhi Vessel is Tracked to Honduras
Last December, the government made a surprise decision that drew criticism from many quarters when it declared that in respect of gillnets, there would be a control and eventual phase out. OCEANA Belize says that while they applaud G.O.B. for recognizing gillnet as a destructive gear, there is a need for the ban on gillnet […]
Written on February 6, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on OCEANA – “Ban on Gillnets must be decisive”
The Belize Coast Guard made a fisheries bust of marine products valued at forty-thousand dollars. The Coast Guard was carrying out an operation near the Manatee Bar Mouth earlier today when they discovered three fishermen operating with expired fisher folk license. The fishermen were found with nine drums and several coolers filled with marine products […]
Written on January 31, 2020 | Posted in
Crime,
Environment |
Comments Off on Belize Coast Guard Makes 40 Grand Fisheries Bust!
A more severe drought has been forecasted for 2020 and it is expected that the extended dry weather may once again have adverse effects on the New River. In light of the catastrophe that resulted in a massive fish kill along that waterway last year in the north, a taskforce led by the Department of […]
Written on January 29, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Another Severe Drought May Affect New River in 2020
The Department of the Environment, in partnership with the Belize Bureau of Standards, is hosting a seminar to establish a collective benchmark for use of the term biodegradable in respect of local standards. This morning, dozens of participants from the private sector attended the second day of the workshop to learn more about the various […]
Written on January 29, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on D.O.E. and Bureau of Standards Take on Biodegradability
With thirty years of industrial experience in plastics and packaging, Kelvin Okamoto, C.E.O. of Gen3Bio, was invited as a guest speaker to address the issue of biodegradability. He commented favourably on Belize’s move toward adopting biodegradability standards. Kelvin Okamoto, Chief Executive Officer, Gen3Bio “It’s great that Belize is willing to take these steps. Based […]
Written on January 29, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Belize on Right Track to Biodegradability
F.C.D. held a two-day bi-national youth exchange programme with youths from five Guatemalan communities that fringe the Chiquibul National Park. The purpose of the exchange was to sensitize and help empower the young people to champion the protection of the environment, primarily the forest and water resources. The engagement with the rural communities in Guatemala […]
Written on January 28, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
People & Places,
Regional / International |
Comments Off on FCD Hosts Exchange Programme with 5 Guat Communities
As we reported on Wednesday, the Turneffe Atoll Trust has acquired the remaining seventeen thousand acres of land within the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve. This is in the form of an agreement signed with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Immigration for which the […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Lands Minister on Turneffe Land Trust Agreement
Weighing in on the matter was Opposition Leader, John Briceño. According to Briceño, under the National Lands Act, to transfer a large piece of land, such as the seventeen thousand acres in question, it must be approved by parliament. If not, he says, that the transfer is illegal. John Briceño, Leader of Opposition “For […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
People & Places,
Politics |
Comments Off on P.U.P. Leader Says Transferring 17,000 Acres of Land without House Approval is Illegal
According to Executive Director of the Turneffe Atoll Trust, Alex Anderson, forty percent of the land mass at Turneffe was already sold to private entities and this move reserves the sixty percent of mangroves, sea grass beds and terrestrial property left. Anderson says government received funds, but it’s neither a purchase price nor a private […]
Written on January 23, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Turneffe Atoll Trust on Land Trust Agreement
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, the Environment, Sustainable Development and Immigration and the Ministry of Natural Resources have signed over approximately seventeen thousand acres of national lands remaining on the Turneffe Atoll. The lands, primarily comprised of mangrove ecosystems, have been handed over to the Turneffe Atoll Trust. According to TASA’s Valdemar Andrade, the […]
Written on January 22, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on 17,000 Acres of Turneffe Land is Set Aside in a Trust
The agreement states that Turneffe Atoll Trust must maintain properties as a nature conservation reserve for the protection of nationally significant species, groups of species, biotic communities and physical features of the environment within the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve. While in principle, Valdemar Andrade says that the protection of the national land is the goal, […]
Written on January 22, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association Concerned about Land Trust
Documents shared with News Five show illegal dredging activities being carried out within the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. As we reported on Tuesday, residents in the Secret Beach area have been conducting dredging to obtain landfill. When they were confronted by officials, the property owners claimed that the San Pedro Town Council headed by Mayor […]
Written on January 22, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
Politics |
Comments Off on P.U.P. Leader Says S.P.T.C. Cannot Issue Dredging License
News Five understands that several small dredgers who have been conducting small scale operations in the area have been working with relevant authorities for permission to continue working the area. These men, described as artisanal dredgers employ the use of small fishing vessels which they fill with sand for use as landfill on properties in […]
Written on January 22, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Dredgers Say They are Working to Obtain License for Artisanal Dredging
Illegal dredging activities are threatening the coral reefs of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve which lies between San Pedro and Caye Caulker. News Five has received a number of documents that the illegal activities have continued unimpeded and that in a number of instances, the go ahead has not been approved by the relevant authority, […]
Written on January 21, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
Featured |
Comments Off on Dredging in Hol Chan near Secret Beach, Ambergris Caye
In another illegal activity, the Belize Fisheries Department and Police carried out a joint operation in Dangriga that led to a bust of over four hundred pounds of out-of-season Nassau Grouper. The illegal products were found in ice boxes on a property in that southern municipality, but no one was found in the area. The […]
Written on January 21, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
Featured |
Comments Off on Fisheries Make 400-Pound Nassau Grouper Bust
In the past, as recent as last year, we’ve reported on the Nassau Grouper and why Belize has taken steps to protect this species. The fish is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the Nassau Grouper as a critically endangered species in the region. […]
Written on January 21, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
Featured |
Comments Off on Nassau Grouper Critically Endangered; Fish Has Protection in Belize
The Saint Catherine Academy says that as they head into their one hundred and thirtieth anniversary, they will be putting the conversation of climate and youth into action on their school grounds. The high school says that their environmental clubs have led the charge to raise awareness and promote conservation. Today they hosted a forum […]
Written on January 20, 2020 | Posted in
Education,
Environment |
Comments Off on S.C.A. Leads the Charge for Youth and Climate in 2020
On Wednesday, Belize enacted the phase-out of single-use plastics and styrofoam through the Environmental Protection (Pollution from Plastics) Regulation 2020. The Minister of Environment signed that regulation into law which seeks to reduce plastic and styrofoam pollution through a phase-out process. According to the ministry, the regulation was put into place as a means of […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Single-Use Plastic and Styrofoam Ban to Be
Senator for the N.G.O.s, Osmany Salas lauds G.O.B.’s efforts to initiate a ban on single-use plastics and styrofoam. Salas says that while he hasn’t reviewed the final document with the regulations, from what he knows, it’s the right move and one that seemed to have encouraged other countries in the region to follow suit. […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Belize Network of N.G.O.s Lauds Single Use Plastic Ban!
The Belize Red Cross in leading the charge in formalizing an Early Warning System for the Old Capital to better prepare in case of disasters. The organization is working along with the City Emergency Management Organization (CEMO) and other respective partners including members of communities identified. The training is focused on reviewing the established warning […]
Written on January 16, 2020 | Posted in
Environment |
Comments Off on Setting in Place Early Warning Systems for Belize City Residents
Earlier this week, you heard a resident of San Antonio Village complain about the burning of medical waste in the village. That resident told us that the matter has been going on for years and it has become a problem, particularly for those who live nearby to the dump site. Residents there reported that they […]
Written on January 10, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
Health,
People & Places |
Comments Off on M.O.H. Responds to Reports of Medical Waste Dump in San Antonio
Some residents in San Antonio, Toledo are alleging that burning of medical waste is making them sick. According to them, particularly those who reside near the San Antonio Polyclinic, the improper disposal of the waste has been going on for about five years. The residents say that they have complained bitterly over the years but […]
Written on January 7, 2020 | Posted in
Environment,
Health |
Comments Off on San Antonio Resident Claims that Medical Waste is Making Them Sick
