On Monday, May 19th, the Belize Flats Fishery Association (BFFA) held a press conference in Belize City, calling on the Government of Belize to urgently intervene in the ongoing degradation of Belize’s vital mangrove forests, fishing flats, and other marine ecosystems. BFFA members and supporters highlighted their continuing opposition to tourism developments at Cayo Rosario, off the northeast coast of Ambergris Caye, and Sandfly Caye in southern Belize, projects they say pose severe environmental threats.
Local leaders from San Pedro Town attended the event, including Dr. Addiel Perez of the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust, who underscored the urgent need for better oversight of development activities. “The less mangroves, the less seagrass, the less biodiversity there is in coral reef ecosystems, will adversely affect the livelihoods depending on these ecosystems,” Perez said. “If this rate of destruction and habitat loss continues, we will have an unsustainable model of tourism, of policy development, and of conservation and management in the country,” Perez added that stakeholders are deeply concerned about the long-term environmental impacts of these developments.
San Pedro fly-fishing guide Michael Peralta, who has been active in the campaign against the proposed over-the-water structures at Cayo Rosario, also spoke at the press conference. “I am lucky to say I started guiding eight years ago, so I was able to see the beauty and the amount of fish that used to be there. We had a lot of juvenile bonefish that when the weather was windy, we could be on the back of the island teaching a beginner fly fish,” he said. “We could teach beginners to build their confidence up to eventually move up to permit, which was the main reason we used to go to Cayo Rosario. We used to have huge schools of permit, big fish there too that you can’t find now.” Peralta noted that fish numbers around the Cayo Rosario flats have recently declined.
Philip ‘Billy’ Leslie, President of the San Pedro Tour Guide Association, shared an anecdote about a previously proposed dolphin center at Cayo Cangrejo, also near Ambergris Caye. “We fought against that project and are not here today,” he said. “We have to keep doing this, but we want to create a role model as I am getting old. I am not an anti-development person, but I just want them to understand that there should be a balance between development and conservation.”
The project at Cayo Rosario is currently on hold due to a Stop Order. However, attendees emphasized that this measure alone is insufficient. They agreed that ongoing resistance to environmentally harmful development is crucial. The Cayo Rosario project plans to build a 102-room hotel, an island club, a restaurant, a dive shop, and a marina on a 10.2-acre island. Notably, it proposes 90 over-the-water bungalows and 12 mangrove bungalows, accommodating up to 294 guests. This development is located within the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, a protected area recognized for its ecological sensitivity and significance to local fisheries.
BFFA President Eworth Garbutt announced that the group is also focusing on protecting Sandfly Caye, where dredging and excavation are reportedly ongoing. “It is time for Belize to put the environment, the people, and the foreign investor in check,” he said. “We are here to ask for partnership with the regulatory people, the everyday people, the people who make the decisions,” Garbutt affirmed the BFFA’s opposition to such projects and called on all government officials, regulatory bodies, and agencies responsible for managing Belize’s marine and coastal resources to take immediate and effective action. “The destruction of these ecosystems cannot be allowed to continue under the guise of development. It is our heritage that is at stake,” he emphasized.
Janelle Chanona of Oceana Belize also attended the press conference and raised concerns about the lack of transparency around large-scale development proposals. “If we lose those ecosystems, we’re the first to pay the consequences of those, so that lack of information of even what’s happening and what’s proposed is really a trend,” she said. “We have to break that. Part of our support for this movement has been to ask for information about several of these projects.”
The BFFA highlighted a positive example from 2024, when the Government of Belize acquired the Will Bauer Flats in southern Belize from a private investor following an outcry over a proposed development. While they welcomed that move, the association said unregulated dredging, mangrove clearance, and unsanctioned development continue in other critical areas, violating Belize’s conservation commitments under the Blue Bond agreement.
According to the BFFA, these activities threaten the BZ$240 million flats fishery industry and the livelihoods of hundreds of Belizeans who depend on healthy, functional ecosystems. “We are not against development. We welcome responsible investment that follows scientific, legal, and community-based planning. But we will not stand by while our natural heritage is destroyed in the name of profit,” the organization stated.
The BFFA, a non-governmental organization representing professional flats-fishing guides and related stakeholders, formally calls on the Government of Belize to uphold its conservation responsibilities. The association said it is not satisfied with the current level of enforcement and made it clear it will not accept the continued disregard for the future of their industry and the country’s natural resources.
