Email

Print

But amidst all the enforcement pressures and the treacherous terrain are the impressive natural wonders of a place few Belizeans ever get to see. Janelle Chanona made the arduous trek and along with camera-man Codie Norales, she captured the raw beauty of Chiquibul:

Janelle Chanona Reporting

Any novice nature guide will tell you a noisy tractor is not the best way to spot wildlife but in the Chiquibul Forest, it is one of the limited options.

From our wobbly vantage point, we spot the brown blur of an agouti; a sunning boa constrictor; more than a handful of turtles; dining deer; the spectacular scene of colourful scarlet macaws in the tree tops; an apparently lost wood stork; fresh jaguar tracks; and towering Cieba trees-all set against the misty Maya mountains.

The Chiquibul Forest boasts majestic features which many Belizeans will never behold with their own eyes. Case in point-Puente Natural, the Natural Arch.

Rising one hundred and fifty feet above the Chiquibul River, the stone bridge is the remnant of a collapsed cave. The unique karstic feature is as picturesque as it is mesmerizing.

The Chiquibul Forest is also home to one of the largest cave systems in Central America; its chambers are filled with countless Maya artefacts and dripstone formations.

The Chiquibul National Park is Belize's largest protected area, measuring more than 260,000 acres in size; that's more than half the Cayo district.

Managing the bountiful resources of the forest presents distinct management challenges to the park's co-managers: Friends for Conservation and Development.

The foremost issue is accessibility. This is the only "road" into the park, although it looks like a swamp in more places than not. The trip to the Ciebo Chico Conservation Outpost used to be a gruelling 2 day hike. Now, it's a back-breaking six hour tractor ride along ancient logging trails.

Then there's the sheer size of area versus the number of boots on the ground guarding the resources. The personnel is simply not enough.

Over the last decade, FCD estimates millions of dollars' worth of Belizean hardwood, xate palms and game meat have been illegally extracted from the Chiquibul Forest. The illegal mining of gold has been the latest threat against the Chiquibul.

Derrick Chan - Ranger, Friends for Conservation and Development
"It's a very simple method, not a lot of investment like in logging or xate where you have to bring a horse and a chainsaw. In this case you just bring a little pan, like where you use to knead your tortilla, a pan and a shovel. Shovel some mud and you wash it and because gold is heavy, it goes to the bottom and allows all the mud and you find about a gram of gold in about five pan you will do."

In July 2012, the Ciebo Chico Conservation Post was established in direct response to the surge of illegal activity in the Chiquibul Forest.

Nayari Diaz Perez - Senior Grants Officer, Protected Areas Conservation Trust
"The majority of Belizeans don't get a sense of the magnitude of the work that it takes to conserve the natural resources of this area."

Or the magnitude of the machines it takes to even get into the area. "Jumping viper" was bought with PACT funding. According to Nayari Diaz Perez, field visits to the Chiquibul are simultaneously back breaking and eye opening.

Nayari Diaz Perez
"When I go back to Belmopan, it makes the process of decision making, more informed because I've been here. So I know what it takes. So, when FCD wants a bigger tractor or trailer, I know why. It's a constant and continuous adaptive management that has to be done. Together with FCD, we've partnered invest in resources that have now made it a little bit easier to do their job, but we're still a long way from the optimum scenario. So, as the funding agency and partner to FCD and the Ministry in the conservation of the Chiquibul National Park, we're always looking at how best we can support with our investments to make it a little bit easier."

PACT also provided funds to help build the conservation post which houses the South Chiquibul Enforcement Unit.

Accommodations are spartan; the routine rigorous, but six months in, FCD says the unit is making an impact.

Rafael Manzanero - Executive Director, Friends for Conservation and Development
"Where there is no presence, it provides a high level of in-governance. So, having a presence, we already know that is going to deter the illegal extractors in this area."

FCD's Rafael Manzanero says conserving the Chiquibul is compounded by the apparent disinterest from the general public; even though the area provides substantial environmental goods and services to the rest of the country.

Rafael Manzanero
"Right here we are right on the head waters of the Chiquibul River. This river, and particularly because of these mountains, it is able to provide over 45% of the people of Belize depends on this water, from right here in these mountains. In reality there is so much that we can talk about; how to really bring down the story to the Belizean public is tough because unless you really come and see it here, then you can understand clearly the importance of these areas."

Improving the road conditions would allow more Belizeans to access and appreciate the area's resources. It would also boost the park's potential to generate income through tourism. But environmentalists say greater accessibility into the Chiquibul Forest could be a catch 22.

Nayari Diaz Perez
"Opening up roads and making them easier to travel can bring advantages and disadvantages, so it's not something that you just want to get out there. It has to be something that carefully thought out because need to be able to contain the issues of access by the people we don't want to access the area. So, opening it up more actually opens it up for everybody, not just Belizeans, but illegal activity which we don't want. So, once you put it on the map, so to speak, it's out there, so it just means then once you do that, you have to invest a lot more in effective management of the area in order to get your end objective, which is to conserve the resources."

However, "effective" management will do little to lessen the pressures of illegal activity. FCD is all too aware that unless poverty issues are addressed across the border, the Chiquibul Forest will face costly and constant threats.

Derrick Chan
"As long as there are people on the other side and they don't have jobs; don't have land; what they need to sustain themselves, they will turn to the closest resource. If the pressures continue, we could end up with an empty forest-just trees and no wildlife."

When you start talking about the challenges confronting the Chiquibul, the long list includes a lack of personnell and resources; the constant threat of illegal logging, poaching and now illegal mining. But there is a hope here-in the patrols that defend the border and in the men and women that are speaking up for the environment.

Janelle's two day trek was Channel 7's sixth trip into the Chiquibul since 2005.