Placencia Lagoon – Management Plan, 2015-2020 Placencia Lagoon Management Plan Management Plan 2015 – 2020 Wildtracks, 2015 1 Placencia Lagoon – Management Plan, 2015-2020 Acknowledgments We would like to thank Financial support towards this management planning process was provided by the World Wildlife Fund Southern Environmental Association Placencia Village Stann Creek District Belize, Central America Phone: (501) 523-3377 Fax: (501) 523-3395 Email: [email protected] Prepared By: Wildtracks, Belize [email protected] Wildtracks, 2015 2 Placencia Lagoon – Management Plan, 2015-2020 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................... 5 Background and Context ......................................................................................................... 5 Purpose and Scope of Plan ....................................................................................................... 7 1. Current Status ......................................................................................................... 8 1.1 Location ............................................................................................................................. 8 1.2 Regional Context .............................................................................................................. 13 1.3 National Context .............................................................................................................. 15 1.3.1 Legal and Policy Framework ................................................................................. 15 1.3.2 Land Tenure .......................................................................................................... 19 1.3.3 Evaluation of Protected Area ................................................................................ 21 1.3.4 Socio-Economic Context ....................................................................................... 24 1.4 Physical Environment of the Placencia Lagoon Area ....................................................... 33 1.4.2 Hydrology .............................................................................................................. 36 1.4.3 Geology and Soils .................................................................................................. 43 1.5. Biodiversity of Management Area .................................................................................. 45 1.5.1 Ecosystems of the Placencia Lagoon Area ............................................................ 45 1.5.2 Fauna ..................................................................................................................... 57 1.6 Cultural and Stakeholder Use of Placencia Lagoon ......................................................... 71 1.6.1 Community and Stakeholder Use ......................................................................... 71 1.6.2 Recreation and Tourism Use ................................................................................. 72 1.6.3 Educational Use..................................................................................................... 72 2. Conservation Planning........................................................................................... 73 2.2.1 Conservation Targets……………………………………………………………………………………….….…..76 2.2.1 Identified Threats .................................................................................................. 86 Wildtracks, 2015 3 Placencia Lagoon – Management Plan, 2015-2020 3. Management Planning ........................................................................... 103 3.1 Management Goals ....................................................................................................... 103 3.2 Management and Organizational Background .............................................................. 104 3.3 Review of Previous Management Effectiveness ............................................................ 107 3.4 Management Strategies ................................................................................................ 109 3.4.1 Declaration, Rules and Regulations .................................................................... 109 3.4.2 Management Zones ............................................................................................ 112 3.5 Management Programmes and Objectives .................................................................. 114 3.5.1 Natural Resource Management Programme ...................................................... 116 3.5.2 Research and Monitoring Programme ................................................................ 121 3.5.3 Community Participation and Outreach Programme ......................................... 126 3.5.4 Public Use Programme ........................................................................................ 130 3.5.5 Site and Infrastructure Management Programme ............................................. 133 3.5.6 Administrative Programme ................................................................................. 133 3.5.7 Management Policies .......................................................................................... 136 3.6 Timeline, Evaluation, and Review .................................................................................. 136 3.7 Financing ........................................................................................................................ 140 References .............................................................................................................. 143 NOTE TO DRAFT: This is a draft – not the final output. Areas still requiring strengthening or removed for editing include: . Climate Change Adaptation . Finalization of biodiversity section . Integration of impact information from REA . Tidying up of strategic sections . Contents, references, table, map, figure numbers won’t be finalised until the final copy Wildtracks, 2015 4 Placencia Lagoon – Management Plan, 2015-2020 Introduction Background and Context Placencia Lagoon has the potential to be a global model of balanced community values, development and conservation. It has been proposed that the area be declared a Wildlife Sanctuary - Conservation 2 status, managed under the Forest Department, through a co- management partnership with the Southern Environmental Association (SEA), with the following objectives: . Biological: Protecting mangrove forests and fringing ecosystems, seasonally and permanently inundated wetlands, endangered species and nursery habitats for marine life . Safety: Creating buffer zones for flood and wind control and to ease effects of climate change . Economic: Increasing tourism revenues through promotion of the Placencia Lagoon as environmentally conscious community and eco-tourism destination. Traditional Use: Maintaining traditional rights-based low-impact fishing Placencia Lagoon has been highlighted several times as a gap in the National Protected Areas System (NPAS). It was one of twelve sites identified for inclusion within the PAS in 1995 (Miller et al., 1995), and one of twenty-three sites highlighted in 1996 (Zisman, 1996). The 1996 assessment focused particularly on the unique nature of the peninsula, the importance of the area as a productive fishing ground and the presence of a significant population of West Indian manatee. The value of the mangroves on the western side of the lagoon for the health of the system was also recognized in the Mango Creek Special Development Area Development Plan, approved in 1997. The Lagoon is known for its aesthetic beauty, as well as providing resources for at least six Placencia Lagoon - Species of International marine species of international concern, Concern (IUCN 2014) including two considered Critically Endangered Critically Endangered (the Goliath grouper and Hawksbill turtle). It is Goliath Grouper Epinephelus itajara Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata also recognized for its role in maintaining Endangered stocks of commercial fish species, with Green Turtle Chelonia mydas mangroves and seagrass both in close Vulnerable proximity, forming a key nursery area. Fish West Indian Manatee Trichechus manatus within the system support local traditional Mutton Snapper Lutjanus analis Clover Grass Halophila baillonii Wildtracks, 2015 5 Placencia Lagoon – Management Plan, 2015-2020 fishermen, primarily from Seine Bight, dependent on these resources for their livelihoods, as well as providing a sport fishing destination when weather is too rough for fishing on the coast. The lagoon is also identified as a key estuarine system in Belize for the West Indian manatee (Zisman, 1996), as well as for its preferred foodplant, the globally vulnerable clover grass (Halophila baillonii) – a species a very restricted and fragmented range. Following the establishment of the shrimp farms on the coastal plain and the increasing dredging and mangrove clearance, the health of the lagoon system has declined since 2003, with the visible loss of seagrass and the associated loss of species from the lagoon. Following improved management of the shrimp farms since 2010, the health of the system has started to recover, demonstrating the resilience of this system. However, the recovery still has a long way to go, and can only occur if other pressures on the system are reduced. In 2012, as part of the rationalization process for the National Protected Areas system (Walker et. al., 2012),