A two to three-week-old stranded manatee was rescued over the weekend. Manatee conservationist Jamal Galvez says that he was called out to the Belize River in an area in Lake Independence in Belize City where they found the calf wandering. According to Galvez, it appears that the calf got separated from its mother which was […]
Today the Protected Areas Conservation Trust made its singular largest investment in marine protected areas in Belize. As a part of its conservation investment strategy, PACT awarded over one million dollars to the Fisheries Department to be used to strengthen the management of five marine protected areas. Reporter Andrea Polanco has the details on how […]
The National Emergency Management Organization, NEMO is keeping a close watch on a broad area of low pressure that is currently located over the northwester Caribbean Sea. In an advisory issued late today, NEMO says that the area continues to produce disorganized showers and thunderstorms but further development is expected to be slow as it […]
With all that is going on with the New River, OCEANA in Belize has been keeping a close eye on the environmental situation and has commended the citizen-led initiative that has captured national attention. Since the tributary empties out into Corozal Bay, the environmental N.G.O. has pledged its commitment to supporting the right of residents […]
The Belize Network of N.G.O.s says that pollution of the New River should be a wake-up call for Belize. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the B.N.N. applauded residents of Orange Walk for their activism saying that, “As a result of sustained public pressure, the relevant Government agencies have started to pay attention.” The […]
The B.N.N. also called on government to allocate the necessary financial resources to the D.O.E. and other agencies address issues like the New River pollution. Their recommendation is that the funding should come from the Environmental Management Fund and proceeds from Environmental Tax. Salas says it is laid out in black in white that some […]
The Alliance of Small Island States has taken a first-of-its-kind approach to crafting a package of critical climate change initiatives to safeguard small island societies. The SIDS Package, as it is known, was presented on September twenty-third at the U.N. Secretary General’s Climate Action Summit. It is a set of cross-cutting initiatives and partnerships that […]
There is an update tonight on the condition of the New River; the Department of Environment is reporting a level of success with the installation of aerators at various points of the river in Orange Walk Town where they introduced oxygen back into the water. But there is concern that sediments will flow downstream and […]
D.O.E. has additional long-term work in the months ahead. Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, Edgar Ek says that part of the plan includes further studies of the sediments that have sunk to the bottom of the river, including pesticides and heavy metals. That part of the plan has been presented to the Task Force. There is […]
Over the past two months, the health of the New River deteriorated exponentially. Aside from visible changes in its physical aspect, a strong stench of rotting eggs, which is hydrogen sulphide, enveloped residents along the river bank. Personnel from D.O.E. and the Ministry of Health have been monitoring the situation closely. Today, we asked Deputy […]
At a very lengthy press conference that went through the lunch hour today, Prime Minister Dean Barrow announced that a state of emergency is to be declared in parts of the country due to the prolonged drought that is impacting the agriculture and other sectors. This has become necessary to access funding to assist affected […]
While this is not the first occasion that drought has affected the agricultural sector, it is certainly the worse. The government’s plan to work with Central Bank and local banks to offer financial relief to farmers and by extension six thousand families spread across twenty-three communities is welcomed by Opposition Leader, John Briceño. Briceño; however, […]
The Management of La Inmaculada School in Orange Walk Town has moved into gear to activate phase one of their contingency plan to ensure the health of the school population as well as teachers. On Wednesday, students and teachers fell ill and had to seek medical attention. Beginning today and until the situation clears with […]
The New River up north is contaminated and is having negative effects on the population, though there are signs that the river is recovering. In the west, increased levels of mercury have been detected in the Macal River near Cristo Rey. It means that fish and other forms of aquatic life have been affected. The […]
In July, News Five reported on the constant decline in production in the citrus industry. Several factors such as a citrus disease and less investment influenced the decline and tonight drought is added to the list of factors. A drought which has been hovering over Belize for many weeks has caused financial and agricultural instability to parts […]
As the Department of the Environment continues to implement measures and monitor the progress of the New River for over a week, there is information emerging about one measure that can help heal the river. We are talking about Effective Microorganisms technology, and it is not new to Belize. It has been around for about […]
Four days after a catamaran with tourists ran aground on the reef in the coral garden area, north of Caye Caulker Village, the vessel is finally removed. Today, Coral Tours Belize Limited were successfully able to remove its thirty-two feet double hull catamaran from the reef after it grounded on the reef on Friday evening […]
The vessel is a catamaran that carries out tours within Belize. While it is a Belizean registered company, it is owned by a Colombian national, and the vessel is captained by a local Belizean. The estimated cost of the damage is yet to be determined and Kenrick Gordon says that both the captain and the […]
The Belize Sugar Industry has responded to a report that the mill is largely at fault for the state of the New River. B.S.I. is refuting any claim that the factory is permitting untreated effluent to enter the New River ecosystem. On Monday, B.S.I. hosted Friends of the New River for a tour of their […]
The Department of Environment was in Orange Walk today monitoring the situation at the New River. The installation of aerators and the brief rains over the weekend have caused an improvement of the river. The students at La Inmaculada School are back in their classrooms and the stench is dissipating. But while that is good […]
Is the Belmopan headquarters of the Public Service Union up for sale once again? A social media post on September eleventh by Real Estate Belize lists the one acre Hilltop property among several land deals. The parcel was quietly sold off to Chinese businessman Xin Ni in November 2018 by the Belmopan City Council in […]
An agreement between the Government of Belize and the Export-Import Bank of Taiwan for a fifty million dollar loan was signed on Monday after it was ratified by Senate in late August. The monies will be used for the upgrading of the forty-seven mile long Corozal-Sarteneja Road, construction of the Pueblo Nuevo and Laguna Seca […]
The recently formed New River Task Force, Chaired by the Department of the Environment, met for a second time at Orange Walk Town today. The Department of the Environment updated the group on the measures being taken to address the current state of the New River. One of the members on the Task Force is […]
Friends for Conservation and Development is reporting a spike in aggressive cattle ranching activities along the western border. F.C.D. notes that in March, more than eighty pastures were documented in an area of ninety kilometers of the western border. This year, the N.G.O. has conducted five aerial reconnaissance trips of the Vaca Forest Reserve, Chiquibul […]
The F.C.D. is also reporting that illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching have been affecting the scarlet macaw population. This year, some twenty five parrots were lost at the hands of Guatemalan poachers but that number can be more. A national census conducted earlier this year showed that Belize has a minimum of three hundred individual […]
