Pressure from human footprint continues on protected areas in Western Belize

_{Photo: From left: Dr. Anabel Ford of El Pilar, Cynthia Ellis Topsey of the Godsman Ellis Center and Rafael Manzanero of FCD at the Benque Cultural House on Friday night}

Written by Orlando Pulido

Santa Elena, Cayo District, Saturday, June 22, 2024

The Versavel lecture series in Benque Viejo was held again at the Benque Cultural House on Friday evening, June 21. The speaker was Rafael Manzanero, Executive Director of the Friends of Conservation and Development (FCD).

Manzanero said the FCD will continue to work with the forestry department in the Huaca Forest Reserve (buffer zone), the Baldi Lighthouse in Pine Ridge Mountain, and the Chiquibul National Park. Chiquibul itself covers more than 269,000 acres, while Huaca covers another 34,000 acres.

“Our main challenge is certainly cattle ranching. We still have issues with gold panning, illegal wildlife trade and, of course, we have agriculture along the border,” Manzanero said.

Manzanero pointed out that cattle farming is becoming mainstream on the Belize border. It is reported that Chiquibul has a total of 920 hectares of ranch.

Manzanero reports that these protected areas “are becoming more accessible, so, in a sense, people who visit the area can learn more about what’s going on there.”

Part of FCD’s strategy right now is to build partnerships with the Guatemalans, which they have been doing since 2008. (The Mopan River originates in Belize, flows through Guatemala, then returns at the mouth of the Río Blanche to join the Macal River, forming the Belize River.)

The area managed by FCD is rich in biodiversity. Part of that biodiversity includes macaws – 300 of which are still in Belize. These rare birds often fly to Red Bank to feed. But Manzanero acknowledged that some of Red Bank’s habitat has been destroyed.

Manzanero said Chiquibul itself has some “undiscovered” caves. The last section of the Chiquibul cave system – the largest in Central America – ends in Guatemala.

The recent fires have affected some protected areas managed by the FCD. “We still don’t know how much damage there is,” Manzanero said.

Manzanero acknowledged that while there is “always going to be pressure” from the human footprint in FCD-managed protected areas, the good news is that FCD has established partnerships with a number of national and international conservation-related entities.

For more information about FCD, visit www.fcdbelize.org. FCD operates in the Chiquibul Forest, a vast freshwater catchment area that is part of the largest contiguous area of ​​tropical forest north of the Amazon.