Environment
Current State of the New River
The Department of the Environment (DOE) hereby informs the public, especially residents of Orange Walk Town and those people living in the vicinity of the New River, that the general condition of the river has improved over the past weeks.
Community and Society
Successful 2nd Annual Belize Birding Festival
The Cayo district welcomed over two-hundred participants at the 2nd Annual Belize Birding Festival 2019, this past weekend October 19th and 20th at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel. The two-day festival included presentations, panel discussion, workshops, birding tours, vendor booths, and an evening cocktail.
Environment
Eleven Communities in Southern Belize Included in Research on Climate Change and Livelihoods for National Planning
Belmopan. October 16, 2019. The Community Disaster Risk Reduction Fund (CDRRF) in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Local Government and Rural Development and the Social Development Commission (Jamaica) hosted a Community Profiles and Livelihood Baseline Assessment Workshop in Punta Gorda Town from October 7th to 11th, 2019.
Environment
An emergency response team to be established to monitor and restore the reef in the aftermath of natural disasters
The Belizean coastline is flanked by the second largest barrier reef system in the world, which sustains tourism, one of the country’s strongest industries. The reef also serves as a natural barrier against natural disasters such as hurricanes. These storms can cause grave damages to the corals, endangering its survival and the livelihood of thousands. To prevent such a catastrophe, a workshop was held at Gran Caribe Resort’s conference room on Friday, October 11th, to form an emergency response coordinating committee in charge of rehabilitating the reef after a hurricane.
Environment
Island tour guides and boat captains attend Manatee Conservation Workshop
Aiming to protect and reduce the death toll of the endangered Antillean manatee, a conservation workshop was held in San Pedro Town on Thursday, October 10th. Representatives from the many tour companies in San Pedro gathered at the Lion’s Den at 7PM to participate in the event, which provided valuable information for tourism industry partners on manatees.
Environment
Belize Network of NGOs calls on the GOB to modernize fisheries legislation
The Belize Network of NGOs (BNN) calls on the Government of Belize (GOB) through the Ministry of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment, and the Ministry of National Security to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities as a matter of national priority. Specifically, to enact the Fisheries Resources Bill by introducing it at the next meeting of the House of Representatives to be passed into law without further delay.
Environment
No cure for new coral disease infecting the Belize Barrier Reef System
The health of the Belize Barrier Reef System is becoming more than a priority for the environmentalist community as Belize’s reef is under attack by a disease called ‘Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease.’ The damaging coral disease primarily affects the stony coral species and has killed out large areas of coral in other regions such as Florida USA.
Environment
Coral tissue loss disease threatens Belize’s Barrier Reef
Stony coral tissue loss disease was first detected in the Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve in Belize in June 2019, adding to other threats such as rising sea levels, warming seas, ocean acidification, and climate change, which are already endangering the long term survival of the Meso-American Reef System. Belize's Barrier Reef is a major attraction for the tourism industry and also serves as an important habitat for Belizean fisheries.