All this week, we've been telling you about the massive Canal that has been cut right through the Labouring Creek Jaguar Corridor Wildlife Sanctuary.
It covers three kilometers of the sanctuary, spans 35 feet, and is 20 feet deep.
Today we spoke via phone to a trio of Doctors from the Environmental Research Institute at the University of Belize. They explained to us the importance of the corridor as it connects the jungles of northern and southern Belize.
Dr. Elma Kay said that cutting a canal through it could have a consequential effect on a number of species, the jaguar included:..
Dr. Elma Kay, Dir. Terrestrial Science & Admin - ERI, UB
"You are talking about severing an area that is one of the last remaining connections from the northern block forest to the Maya mountains. How do we contain at least one continuous track of forest - even if it's not large - that still allows for the animals to move through and be able to cross the highway and continue on into other protected areas and the Maya mountains."
"For the corridor and for movements and for connectivity of those animal populations - it has huge implications."
Dr. Bart Harmsen, Wildlife Fellow, ERI, UB
"This is a necessity to safeguard the wildlife of Belize, and this last portion is just there, and then it's very disturbing that the
government recognizes that this last piece is important; and that there is a developer- without caring about anything- just deciding to dig a ditch; that there is a development next door that just does this and asks questions later and then wants to turn the debate towards whether the canal matters. They shouldn't have dug it in the first place."
Dr. Rebecca Foster, Dir. Belize Jaguar Program, Panthera
"It's a wildlife sanctuary, and the only activity that is legally allowed in a wildlife sanctuary is research, education and tourism, not the digging of a 20ft deep trench."
Dr. Elma Kay, Dir. Terrestrial Science & Admin - ERI, UB
"How could it actually happen in an area that is declared a protected area when an EIA hasn't been approved, and even if an EIA was approved - shouldn't they have checked that this is a protective area? Shouldn't they have seen that this is a wildlife sanctuary and the laws do not permit you to dig a trench through there first of all?"
"The shock of it is that how can this development happen in an area where development like that is not permitted because it's protected and worse than that - how could the whole EIA process be violated. As far as we know, an EIA has been prepared, and that's all; there has been no public consultation; there has been nothing else. So it's a complete disregard for the laws of the nation."
All work on the project has ceased after the forestry department issued a stop order this week. At the peak of activity, as many as four excavators were trenching the canal. The case has been forwarded to the Solicitor General's office for advice on what to do next.
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