The discussion on offshore oil drilling and its risks continue to be ventilated in the media, and for some time now, N.G.O.s and government have bucked heads on this issue. Well, today the Department of Environment invited N.G.O.s to participate in a workshop that will see them offer their expertise to the draft oil spill […]
Belize’s population of manatees is one of the healthiest in the region, but they are still endangered species. Countless times we have reported on the deaths of manatees to boating accidents. Just last year, there were over thirty manatee deaths recorded and for this year so far, we are already at half of that number. […]
We haven’t heard much about NCL’s multimillion dollar tourism development project on Harvest Caye lately, but they have been working on getting the island ready for what they have said would be the end of the year. Well, their activities haven’t gone unnoticed. Pictures surfaced online a few days ago showing rocks on coral colonies. […]
The Department of Environment, along with the Hol Chan Marine Reserve Management, extracted the deep water submersible that has been lodged in the reef in front of San Pedro for the past few weeks. Following Saturday’s removal of the piece of equipment, the Hol Chan team wrapped up an assessment on the area where the […]
Seventeen manatees in twelve weeks; those are the startling statistics coming from the Belize Manatee Conservation Program Coordinator today, following yet another sighting of dead manatees in Belizean waters. It has only been twelve weeks since the start of the year 2015 and since then, there has been up to seventeen manatees that have been […]
But the Belize River Mouth area is heavily trafficked by boaters and is important to stakeholders in the tourism industry. Over the years, human activities in the area are primarily the causes of death of manatees in Belize. Despite visible no-wake zone signs and the awareness campaign that Galvez has been championing, the number of […]
The Herrera family was left homeless earlier this week when a fire destroyed their house which was located at the corner of Allenby Street and East Collet Canal in Belize City. The family was displaced by the blaze that started from the upper flat of the building they occupied. The Fire Department has now determined […]
World water day is an international event that is held to bring awareness on the importance of water. This year’s theme is Water and Sustainable Development; the focus is to highlight the many ways in which water can be managed. News Five’s Isani Cayetano headed to Memorial Park where an event was held to celebrate […]
While the focal point of this weekend’s conservation efforts is on water and its importance, a seminar will be held next Wednesday to take a critical look at natural resources management. According to Roberto Pott, the symposium will be a gathering of like minds to examine issues, including trans-boundary and protected areas concerns. Roberto […]
In this newscast we have often reported on tensions between the police and the community. Well today police officers from various precincts across the country converged on Eastern Division where they attended a workshop on public relations and community policing. The idea is to establish, maintain and improve favorable relationships between the Belize Police Department […]
Police Constable Keith Cruz, attached to the Raccoon Street Station, shares what he has learned during the session with us. He believes that calm and restraint should prevail in dealing with residents. PC Keith Cruz, Eastern Division “Based on this training I learned more how to interact with the community, proper PR because what […]
For years Friends for Conservation and Development has been battling the illegal incursions of Guatemalans into the Chiquibul National Park. These Guatemalans come to cut our timber, harvest our xate, pan for our gold and some even cultivate sizable farms on our land. It’s been an uphill struggle for the FCD, faced with the sheer […]
With the election of Ambassador Nestor Mendez as Assistant Secretary-General of the O.A.S., all eyes will be on the dynamics of the relationship between Belize and Guatemala. That relationship is mediated by the O.A.S., and in the past that organization has been accused of extreme reticence where Guatemala is concerned. For example, there is an […]
In October 2013, the Prime Minister told the Belizean Diaspora in Los Angeles in U.S.A. that the Ministry of Natural Resources was a hotbed of corruption because of the countless instances where fraudulent transactions had been discovered. Today, the Ministry confirmed that it is investigating fraudulent land transactions involving land titles. A preliminary investigation, says […]
Belize has a healthy jaguar population in the region with an estimated five hundred jaguars; however, they are considered to be threatened and are on the decline internationally. But in rural Belize, Jaguars have been wreaking havoc. In Crooked Tree, Belize District, the protected animals have been killing livestock on which the livelihood of farmers […]
And on the George Price Highway, residents of the quiet community of Cotton Tree just outside of Belmopan were panicked by a swarm of bees which quickly killed several dogs in the neighbourhood this morning. It’s a matter of particular concern because the area where the bees swarmed is right behind the Cotton Tree School, […]
A French captain back on December thirty-first, 2014 crashed his thirty-five-foot steel hull vessel into the reef near some coral rubble when he missed the channel near Caye Caulker. Since then, several attempts have been made to remove the boat that is stuck in approximately five feet of water. The grounded vessel has had residents […]
As to the French national who captained the vessel, he has not been seen or heard from since. So will there be any charges laid against him for the damage to the reef. Adele Catzim-Sanchez, C.E.O., Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development “I think that…it just for us provides an opportunity for us […]
It’s been almost a week since a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) reported “lost” in Trinidad and Tobago in November 2014. The submersible was found last Wednesday in the waters off San Pedro on the Belize Barrier Reef in an area called Mexico Rocks. Measuring approximately twelve feet in length and six point six feet […]
A community-based project that looks at the impact of climate change on the ecosystem from a development standpoint was launched today by the Fisheries Department. The marine Conservation and Climate Adaptation project, also referred to as MCCAP, seeks to ensure the sustainable development and the viability of the fishing industry, while creating awareness on the […]
Livestock farmers in Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary have been losing their cattle, but it is not to rustlers. For some time now, farmers have lost thousands of dollars because jaguars have been on the prowl in the area. The issue is that the jaguar population is under protection by law, and the only reason to […]
A submersible was found last Wednesday in the waters off San Pedro on the Belize Barrier Reef in an area called Mexico Rocks. It has been determined that the object measures almost twelve feet in length by six point six feet in width and includes four propellers topside, another two in the front and two […]
On December thirty-first 2014, a French captain crashed his steel hull vessel into the reef near some coral rubble when he missed the channel near Caye Caulker. Late January, an OCEANA team headed by marine scientist, Doctor Isani Chan, visited the site to conduct an assessment of the damage. Doctor Chan advised that the vessel […]
We caught up with OCEANA’s VP Chanona at a science symposium this afternoon at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts. The symposium is one of the many events being organized by the organization to celebrate Reef Week. This year, the event is being held under the theme, “Celebrate our Heritage, Protect our Future, Belief […]
On Wednesday night we told you about the signing of the expansion at Hol Chan Marine Reserve, and while it is a win for conservationists, who have been pushing for the expansion of the protected area, there are still concerns that the area is open and vulnerable to off-shore oil exploration. We spoke with Executive […]
