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birds of belize

GET INVOLVED
TODAY!

Belize Conservation Group has a minimum fundraising goal of US$ 100,000.00 per annum with expectations to raise US$ 250,000.00 annually.

UPCOMING PROJECTS.

lost world cave entrance

Lost World Cave in the Manatee Forest Reserve

1. Tourism and Conservation Development Infrastructure 

Our Belizean counterpart Coastal Manatee Conservation Group has received a Special Use Permit from the Belize Forest Department for 500 acres in the central western boundary of the Manatee Forest Reserve that include Lost World Cave. This is a world class cave system that is in urgent need of elevated protection for adventure tourism and conservation development to safeguard its integrity. â€‹

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Active impacts in the area surrounding Lost World Cave include:

  • Forest fragmentation and land degradation from illegal milpa, permanent crop, and cattle farming.

  • Degradation and contamination of the watershed and the biodiversity dependent on the forest reserve.

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Current concerns for Lost World cave include:

  • Graffiti on cave walls that can detract visitor's appeal.

  • The removal of archaeological artefacts from cave systems which decreases the touristic value.

  • Fires around and on the cave hills that can be devastating to the cave system.

  • Uncontrolled visitor access that degrades the cave formation

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How can we mitigate the impacts to the Manatee Forest Reserve? 

  • By building a visitor centre and a ranger station. 

  • By improving the road infrastructure to increase the productive sector capacity of the Manatee Forest Reserve by generating revenue through adventure tourism for conservation, the private sector, and by creating jobs and improving infrastructure for local communities.

  • By educating and training locals on new methods of jungle tracking, jungle rescue, flora and fauna, ecological and the biological importance of the area.

  • By providing rangers with the necessary technology needed to carry out monitoring and patrolling including camera traps, a drone, GPS devices, camping equipment and remote communication devices. 

  • By creating a sustainable socio-economic model that leads to employment and positive environmental and developmental change. 

program for schools in Belize

Buffer communities around the Manatee Forest Reserve and Coastal Manatee Conservation Group Private conservation area

4. Community Outreach

Our mission is to:

  • Foster value in the minds of local communities through educational outreach and advocacy.

  • Engage with neighbouring land owners and communities. â€‹

Raised-beds-greenhouse-gardening_edited.

St Margaret Village, Belize

2. Greenhouse for
St Margaret Mary R.C Primary School

St Margaret Mary R. C School currently has a total of 395 students of which 150 come from impoverished homes. In an effort to help these students, the school partnered with Samuel's Sanctuary Ministries to start a Feeding Program.  According to the school’s Interim Principal Mr. Manuel Itza ‘the initial number of participants for the School's Feeding Program was 50 students but the number increased to over 120 after the Covid-19 Global pandemic.' The increasing cost of basic goods in Belize and the low income in many households has put a strain on the feeding program reducing the program’s participants to only 60 students and impacting the educational and economic development of the children living in St Margaret. 

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To alleviate the situation, Coastal Manatee Conservation Group has proposed the building of a 40ft X 20ft Greenhouse in St Margaret Mary R. C School’s compound that will not only sustain the current Feeding Program but will also increase the number of participants and facilitate science extracurricular activities for the primary school. 

manatee forest reserve

Manatee Forest Reserve- Central Eastern & Western Boundaries

3. Reforestation & Research Program

The constant deforestation and degradation of watershed banks has affected the already fragmented wildlife habitat in the Manatee Forest Reserve. 

 

Our proposed reforestation initiatives aim to preserve the watersheds and related ecological and biological diversity of the Manatee River and Big Creek from their western origins in the Manatee Forest Reserve to the Coastal Highway.

The reforestation initiatives will increase forest broad leaf cover and ensure the biological connectivity in the MFR and in private conservation land, and facilitate research and monitoring of critically endangered species that call Belize their home. The research and monitoring will be carried out through our Belizean counterparts and partners in conservation. 

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