Belize Conservation Fund Newsletter November 2015 Belize Make A Donation Resources Most Urgently Needed – from Mass Audubon Travel Conservation To make a donation to the Programme for Belize (PfB) or to the Toledo Institute for Director Karen O’Neill Development and Environment (TIDE), Over the past 16 years, I have made many trips to Fund please complete this form and return to: Belize and have always been impressed with the Massachusetts Audubon Society ingenuity and hard work of the dedicated staff at Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) TIDE and PFB. With incredibly scarce resources, Belize Conservation Fund they can rebuild a dilapidated building into a first- The Toledo Institute for Development and the Belize Barrier Reef System World Heritage Site. 208 South Great Road Environment (TIDE) was founded in 1997 to meet the In addition, TIDE assists with planning responsible class education center and patrol thousands of acres November 2015 Lincoln, MA 01773 of wilderness looking for well-hidden poachers. growing environmental and development needs of the tourism and other environmentally sustainable newsletter Conservation work is not easy. Toledo District, the southernmost district of Belize. economic alternatives by providing training and TIDE was conceived as a grassroots initiative in support to local residents. Northern and Southern Belize Name Your gifts in the past have made a huge difference, Rangers on Patrol – response to the negative environmental effects from and we thank you and hope your faith in our work Toledo Institute for Development and Environment The work of rangers in Belize is tower to assist their efforts. Address activities such as manatee poaching, illegal fishing, will continue. The most urgent resources needed this (TIDE) also leads ecotourism expeditions throughout to protect the land, habitat, and This year, five fires were actively illegal logging, destructive farming methods, and other year include the following. Belize, in addition to other wildlife conservation and wildlife in conservation areas. suppressed. They had potential types of unsustainable development. Initially started monitoring activities. Rangers for both the Programme to cause great damage to the City Funding for rangers: Community members are by volunteers, TIDE has now grown to include employed as rangers to patrol the conservation areas, Contact Information: for Belize (PfB) and the Toledo Rio Bravo forest and the nesting 20 paid staff. Institute for Development and habitat of the Yellow-headed enforce laws, suppress wildfires, protect and monitor Celia Mahung, Executive Director State ZIP wildlife, install artificial nest boxes for endangered Environment (TIDE) have to be Parrot. TIDE’s mission is to research, monitor, and help Toledo Institute for skilled in wilderness patrolling Yellow-headed Parrots, and guide local children manage Toledo’s natural resources. The Maya Development and Environment, In southern Belize, TIDE manages Phone on field trips to learn about the natural world. For and surveillance, navigation, Mountain Marine Corridor stretches from the lush Punta Gorda Town, Belize three protected areas: the Port example, $30 pays for a ranger to install five artificial intelligence gathering, biology, pristine forests of the Maya Mountains to the white www.tidebelize.org wildlife rescue and health, search Honduras Marine Reserve, E-mail nest boxes for Yellow-headed parrots. $60 pays for Payne’s Creek National Park, two rangers to patrol 25 miles of trails, $100 pays sand beaches and spectacular array of colors of and rescue, and law enforcement. www.facebook.com/pages/PROGRAMME-FOR-BELIZE In northern Belize the Rio Bravo and the TIDE Private Protected ___Yes, I would like to make a donation for the Payne’s Creek ranger team to carry out Conservation and Management Lands. Rangers working in the prescribed fires for one day, enabling regeneration of Port Honduras Marine Reserve tropical pine savannah (an endangered ecosystem). Area (RBCMA) is a huge tract Donation Information of land, 260,000 acres: a mosaic are focused on law enforcement. Enclosed check ____________ Maintenance of equipment: Keeping buildings of thick tropical forest, marshes, The rangers ensure that Checks should be made payable to and machinery functional in a tropical climate can be swamp forests, river, and two fishermen have valid licenses and Mass Audubon –Belize Conservation Fund challenging. Drill and router $600, Air compressor large sections of important are following fishing regulations. $280, Push mower $375, Ladders $220, Portable savannah habitat. Protecting this Rangers confiscate any gillnets or please charge my credit card for the welding machine $200. property from fires, illegal logging they find and ensure that amount of______ and poachers is a dangerous recreational visitors also respect Tools for Education: Good-quality binoculars for The Programme for Belize (PfB) is a Belizean, nonprofit the RBCMA, PfB conducts research, conservation and challenging job for the the regulations. In Payne’s Creek # rangers and staff are always needed. organization, established in 1988 to conserve the education, and professional training, and promotes Programme for Belize rangers. National Park and the TIDE Private Protected Lands, rangers natural heritage of Belize and to promote wise use environmental awareness among visitors. In addition, VISA___MC___ Card Exp:_________ Increasing Visitation: Bringing more tourists to Besides combating illegal logging are on the lookout for illegal Toledo and Rio Bravo is vitally important for both of its natural resources. The Rio Bravo Conservation the forests of the Rio Bravo Conservation and activities, fire detection and poaching and logging. Programme for Belize and TIDE financially. However, and Management Area (RBCMA) is its flagship project Management Area are important sites for a carbon to help: Please send contributions to suppression have been a priority. Signature finding suitable, local transportation for groups of where Programme for Belize demonstrates the practical sequestration project. Here, four million tons of carbon Wildfire is the leading cause of On land, rangers’ work is students or birders in Belize is very challenging. Small application of its principles. will be sequestered for generations to come. Belize Conservation Fund forest loss in Belize. focused controlling human- If you prefer to call, contact Karen O’Neill, buses and vans are almost impossible to rent and the c/o Massachusetts Audubon Society caused wildfires, a major threat Mass Audubon 800-289-9504. PfB rangers monitor fires via a to the tropical pine savannah quality is often poor. Purchasing a 12 seater van or Since its inception, PfB has secured 260,000 acres Contact Information: 208 South Great Road, small bus (i.e., a Toyota Commuter 12 Seater Bus) will website that provides daily fire (an endangered ecosystem) of forest in northwestern Belize that was otherwise Edilberto Romero, Executive Director Lincoln, MA 01773 truly give us more opportunities to bring travelers to destined to be cleared. The RBCMA represents Or call Bancroft Poor/Karen O’Neill points. Fires that appear within in and around Payne’s Creek. TIDE and Rio Bravo in Belize. Programme for Belize, Belize City, Belize and near the RBCMA boundary The rangers attend yearly fire approximately 4 percent of Belize’s total land area at 800-289-9504 are studied and suppressed if management training to make and is home to a rich sample of biodiversity including: www.pfbelize.org Thank you for your support! www.facebook.com/TIDEBZE needed. PfB recently invested in sure they are up-to-date with the 400 species of birds, 200 species of trees, 70 species new fire equipment and a fire latest techniques. of mammals, and 12 endangered animal species. On Belize Conservation Fund Newsletter November 2015 Rangers on Patrol – Ridge to Reef Education Center inspiring Environmental Protection Northern and Southern Belize (cont.) Ridge to Reef Expeditions (R2R) was launched by TIDE The Programme for Belize actively promotes With the help of Mass Audubon and in partnership in 2014 as a way to connect people with conservation environmental education in schools throughout Belize with the U.S. National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, activities including: PADI SCUBA training, conch and and encourages ecologically sound economic activity Everglades National Park, The Nature Conservancy, and sea cucumber monitoring, nesting turtle beach patrols, in the villages surrounding the Rio Bravo area. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, TIDE trained nine Belizean biodiversity monitoring, reforestation, amphibian Solid environmental education programs that teach protected area managers to the advanced level of “burn monitoring, and much more. This year, TIDE raised funds local children to respect their human and natural boss,” giving them the necessary skills in prescribed fires to cover the cost for one local Belizean participant to environments help secure a safe future for this area. in pine savannahs to prevent dangerous wildfires. The join the program. Javier Alegria, a biology student from The Programme for Belize has worked closely with pine savannah is an endangered ecosystem and provides the University of Belize, joined the expedition for eight the government to incorporate environmental science critical habitat for species such as the endangered Yellow- weeks and was an integral part of the team. Model of La Milpa Archaeological Site in museum case.