Tonight, environmentalists on San Pedro are sounding the alarm on a situation, which is developing on the Island.
It includes a part of the island, which was supposed to be set aside as a protected area, but is now under threat of being used for housing development.
The area has been closely studied and tested to check its importance to the marine ecosystem which surrounds Ambergris Caye. An environmental protection plan, known as the Ambergris Caye Wetlands Project Expansion, has been completed for at least 3 years now, and it has been before Cabinet for several months pending approval. That governmental approval has not been forthcoming, and that caused another problem to develop.
This Wetlands Project Expansion was supposed to become apart of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, co-managed by The Fisheries Department and the Management of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve. Their current reserve area includes areas sectioned off, and named from Zones "A" to "D". Those include coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and lagoon habitats. The Wetlands Project Expansion would have added a new Zone F, and in October 2013, PACT, the Protect Areas Conservation Trust awarded Hol Chan Marine Reserve's Management with a 199 thousand dollar grant.
Because Hol Chan couldn't get the Wetlands Project off the ground, PACT pulled it's grant and requested that Hol Chan give back the money.
But now, a small part of that same area which would have made up Zone "F" has been surveyed, reportedly to be distributed as house lots to residents on San Pedro. We say reportedly because nobody in the different high offices involved wants to address this situation.
But, there is a very important environmental element to this story, and today, our news team went out to San Pedro to see the area for themselves. They returned an hour before news time, but Daniel Ortiz was able to put together a few excerpts of what they saw. Here's his story:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
All of this that you're currently looking at is the Sun Set Cove area of Ambergris Caye. By now, it should have been a part of the Hol Chan Marine Reserve, but it's been caught in governmental red tape for months.
Finally, the grant funding awarded to the Hol Chan Marine Reserve to include it as part of the area under protection was pulled. That by itself is cause for concern, but now, this very important wetland habitat is being looked at a possible housing area.
Nobody from Government would discuss it with us today, but it's hard to argue with the survey pegs already in the water.
It's already subdivided to be distributed as lots, but really there is no land here, unless you consider what is covered by 3 feet of lagoon water.
The reserve is the brain child of the Ambergris Caye Citizens for Sustainable development, and its former President says he can't the reasoning of destroying an ecosystem like this for a poorly planned housing project.
Elito Arceo - Former President, ACCSD
"All the mangroves areas are natural habitats for many fishes; all the babies are born there and eventually make their way towards the reef, areas like those are very critical for the reef itself; for the growth and life of our barrier reef which of course is pride for all of us in Belize. It would have basically tie in Hol Chan, it would have been expansion of Hol Chan which are the low laying areas for the fishes and Mexico Rocks in another area that was proposed for many years of part of the new marine reserve."
Mike Rudon, Ch5
"Explain to me now, apart from the environmental aspect of it, what sense does it make to you that basically these survey posts, just looking at it, I am from Belize City, but looking at it there are survey posts in the water. You can't imagine how people will actually live there."
Elito Arceo - Former President, ACCSD
"And that's a very good point because look at it this way, this is the largest island in Belize. There is good land here. People need a place to live and to call home and they should be provided that, with good land. What we are look at it is an area and you can tell is a lagoon and there are areas on this island presently like San Mateo or by the Marina Road south of town that 15 years into it there is no infrastructure, not even a light. So to get into another one which is about 5 times larger with no kind of planning - It doesn't make sense. Plan it and give the people land, they need the land, but you have to give them the land and not a lagoon."
Tomorrow, we'll have more on this story as we dig deeper into the social significance of this proposed housing area. Plus, we'll try to get comment from every official personalities involved in this area which should have become a protected reserve, some of whom have already declined comment to other media houses.
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