BELIZE
>> GEF-SGP biodiversity projects
>> UNDP Equator Prize Finalists and Winners
Selected GEF biodiversity projects:
>> Sustainable development and management of biologically diverse coastal resources:
Comprehensive planning of coastal resource management to preserve globally significant and economically vital marine ecosystem. This innovative project includes training, laying groundwork for zoning plans, and assistance with developing a permanent statutory authority charged with preserving and managing littoral zone nationwide.>> Formulation of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan:
This Enabling Activity will help Belize to formulate the strategies and actions necessary for the protection and sustainable use of its biodiversity in accordance with Articles 6 and 8 of the CBD, as well as prepare a plan for their implementation. The primary output will be the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. The principal task of this project will be to 1) conduct a comprehensive assessment of the existing information on biodiversity in the country; 2) implement a participatory, strategic planning process and develop priorities for action in protecting Belize's biodiversity; 3) prepare the first National Report for submission to the Conference of the Parties to the CBD.>> Clearing house mechanism enabling activity:
This project will assist the national Government to meet its obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity.>> Conservation and sustainable use of barrier reef complex:
This project, which builds on the achievements of a GEF-funded pilot phase project, seeks to operationalize the recently passed Coastal Zone Management Act. This Act provides the institutional framework for the implementation of targeted interventions for biodiversity protection. Belize's coastal zone is composed of a globally significant diversity of ecosystems and organisms, including the longest barrier reef (220 km long) in the Western Hemisphere. Five of the marine protected areas (MPAs) targeted in this project are World Heritage Sites.>> Creating a co-managed protected areas system:
The overall objective of this project is to improve the effectiveness of existing protected areas by encouraging community co-management of these areas. Belize is still dominated by forest cover that provides extensive areas of natural habitat for some 4,000 species of plants, 150 mammal species (15 endangered / threatened), 540 bird species (33 endangered / threatened), and 151 species of amphibians and reptiles, all within a surface area of only 22,965 square kilometers. The long-term conservation of the unique biodiversity of Belize is linked to its citizens and their involvement in conservation planning. By changing the prevalent paradigm of centralized management, and by supporting the effective and active management of parks by communities, the project will help secure global conservation values, as larger areas will be under effective protection.>> Northern Belize biological corridors project:
This project aims to secure the long-term conservation of the biodiversity within the 'Maya Lowlands' of north-eastern Central America by maintaining ecological linkages between protected areas across northern Belize, from northern Belize to the Maya Mountain / Mountain Pine Ridge massif in central Belize, and from northern Belize into the Maya and Calakmul Biosphere Reserves in Guatemala and Mexico respectively. The corridors so created constitute a critical link in the Mescoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC) system. The identified corridor areas comprise a mosaic of large and small private land-holdings with a relatively low proportion of national lands. Corridor creation therefore emphasizes private sector and community approaches that capitalize upon, mobilize, and reinforce public interest and participation.>> Community-managed Sarstoon Temash conservation project:
Project will reduce land degradation and conserve globally significant biodiversity resources in the Sarstoon Temash National Park (STNP) and its buffer zones.>> Back to top
Selected GEF-SGP biodiversity projects:
>> Mayflower Bocawina Park co-management project:
Project to protect and conserve the Mayflower area and to promote local community stewardship and co-management of the Mayflower Archeological Site and surrounding area, which has been demarcated as a proposed National Park.>> Gra Gra Lagoon conservation and management project:
Education, advocacy and capacity building focused on protecting a mangrove-fringed coastal lagoon and estuary.>> Slackchwe habitat enhancement project:
The project will introduce and demonstrate the use of reef ball molds to construct 40 reef balls. These will be deployed in the Slackchwe Area to create an enhanced marine habitat. The enhanced habitat should help to relieve tourist pressure on the reef in the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. It will also serve as a basis for data gathering and research on fish population dynamics in the area.>> Sustaining and enhancing the Spanish Creek Wildlife Sanctuary for biodiversity and community development:
The goal of this project is to protect the biodiversity of Spanish Creek Wildlife Sanctuary through co-management of the sanctuary, community livelihood improvement, and environmental awareness. The sponsoring group, the Rancho Dolores Environment and Development Group, was formed in 1998 to promote sustainable management of natural resources in the area and bring related economic development to the village.>> Noj Kaax Meen Elijio Panti National Park co-management through capacity building and community outreach project:
The goal of this project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of Itzamna Society to effectively co-manage the Elijio Panti National Park. This will be done through provision and training of human resources and through outreach to buffer communities to strengthen environmental awareness and to increase community participation in park management issues.>> Spanish Creek biodiversity protection project:
This project aims at promoting the protection of an 8-mile stretch of Spanish Creek and the adjacent Riparian Reserve in the vicinity of Rancho Dolores. The project includes environmental education, capacity building for residents, advocacy to government agencies for creation of a reserve and patrolling the creek.>> Monkey River Forest inventory and ecotourism project:
This project aims to instill a sense of stewardship among Village residents for the area’s biodiversity by: 1) conducting monthly wildlife inventories to gain a better understanding of the status and distribution of biodiversity; 2) designing and establishing jungle trails to showcase howler monkeys and other endangered wildlife and birds that live in the forest upriver; 3) training residents in field-survey techniques as a means of building local capacity. The project will also offer opportunities in ecotourism as a means of increasing family incomes in Monkey River Village by: 1) providing tour guide training that leads to official certification for 35 residents of the Village; 2) promoting tourism services through a website; 3) training certain residents as booking agents to develop an understanding of the business of tourism.>> Harpy eagle reintroduction to Belize: a support and education programme:
Project to support the reintroduction of an endangered raptor species to Belize through an educational and training program targeting residents in the communities adjacent to the Rio Bravo Management and Conservation Area lands where the first two specimens will be released.>> Increasing manatee conservation awareness in coastal Belizean communities:
Despite international agreements and national legislation, Manatee remain threatened throughout their range. At a meeting in Guatemala City in 1998, UNDP recognized that the West Indian Manatee is indeed a species that warrants attention. Weak law enforcement, insufficient programs aimed specifically at Manatee protection, and low public awareness regarding Manatee conservation greatly exacerbate these threats. In the light of these observations, Green Reef Environmental Institute is seeking to execute a national Manatee awareness campaign following the award-winning Promoting Protection Through Pride campaign model for target-species conservation pioneered by RARE Center for Tropical Conservation.>> Conserving biodiversity through ecoagriculture in buffer communities of the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary:
The goal of this project is to create an awareness of the need to protect Belize’s biodiversity, specifically focusing on the protection and conservation of the Yellow-Headed Parrot (Amazona oratrix), a species which is often hunted for the pet trade or to prevent damage to crops. This goal will hopefully be accomplished by promoting ecoagricultural strategies that support conservation efforts aimed at enhancing the quality of the Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary while at the same time allowing local farmers to optimize the use of their existing farmland.>> Dive master and dive site project:
This project will train local fishermen, who have traditionally used the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System (BBRRS) for their livelihoods, in an environmentally sustainable economic activity that makes use of their skills and knowledge. The project will also develop an alternative dive site that will help to ease pressures on the traditional dive sites within the Reserve System. The objectives of the project are: 1) to enhance fishermen’s earnings by providing them with a skill that is needed in the growing tourism industry; 2) to provide training in a skill that because of high cost has been kept out of the reach of most local reef users; 3) to take pressures off fishing areas and species such as conch and lobster; 4) to create an alternative income generating activity for fishermen that will allow them to diversify their income base and increase their income.>> Back to top
UNDP Equator Prize Finalists and Winners:
>> Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) (Equator Prize 2002 Finalist)
TIDE is a community-based organization operating in Toledo, the poorest district of Belize, and the location of the Maya Mountain Marine watershed.
Toledo was previously an area in which highly destructive resource-use practices were standard, including manatee-killing, gillnetting, hunting, and illegal logging. TIDE has reduced the incidence of many of these activities by providing communities with an alternative income source to the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources.TIDE’s ongoing certification programmes, for example, have greatly reduced the incidence of destructive fishing processes. One such initiative trains local people as fly-fishing guides. Guides can earn around US$15,000 per year – as opposed to the US$4,000 per year that the average net fisherman takes home. As a result of this programme – together with a patrolling scheme initiated by TIDE – gillnetting has disappeared within the marine reserve.
Monitoring by TIDE has also contributed to the cessation of the public marketing of manatee meat in the Gulf of Honduras region. Illegal hunting and logging, especially in Paynes Creek have also all but disappeared, and TIDE rangers are in place to fight forest fires.
Having established micro-enterprise ecotourism training, TIDE went on to set up a for-profit tourism arm – TIDETours – which operates by subcontracting with the small community-based businesses. An "ECO-OK" certification programme is underway, in conjunction with the Rainforest Alliance, with the aim to give a competitive edge to those farmers who use sustainable cultivation methods. Another programme provides scholarships for the children of families who agree not to engage in unsustainable practices in agriculture and fishing.
As a result of this extraordinary variety of initiatives, TIDE has succeeded in finding a way to allow local people to benefit from the managed conservation of their unique biological heritage.
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