For years, we've been reporting on the situation in the Chiquibul Forest - where an increasing number of Guatemalan loggers are making deeper and deeper encroachments into Belizean territory.
Now the Friends For Conservation And Development - which co-manages the Chiquibul National Park has released a report and its findings are staggering.
The report, called the Chiquibul Forest, A Case For Urgent Action tracks the history and expansion of illegal logging operations by Guatemalans in the Chiquibul Forest.
The first discovery of a Guatemalan logging operation was in 2005, and since then, operations have grown immensely and the depth of penetration has reached an alarming 10 kilometers inside Belizean territory. According to the report, loggers are now just about one kilometer away from appearing by the main highway leading to the Caracol Archeological Reserve.
And the so called zone of influence these loggers exercise continues to grow, almost exponentially. In July 2011 it was mapped at 26,642 hectares, that's about sixty five thousand acres!
Like we said, truly staggering, and the FCD report warns that illegal logging activity has almost doubled in just six months.
And, apart from the incursion and the increase in activity…want to know the most disturbing part? It's the loss in our hardwood resource.
The FCD quotes quote a preliminary study on illegal logging in the Chiquibul Forest in the area of Caracol which has shown the loss of over 1.5 million board feet of lumber. That's 730,792 board feet of mahogany, and 763,401 board feet of Cedar. Put a money value to that and the illegal logging activity in the Caracol Archaeological Reserve alone tallies $ 2,423,987.00 US dollars.
Fittingly, the report calls it a time bomb and underscores the call for urgent action.
Email
Print