Two days ago we told you about the 15 million dollar Chiquibul Forests Investment Initiative. It's a lot of money, but it's also a lot of forest, spanning a total of 1.26 million acres, with 28 miles of border along the border with Guatemala. It comprises 14 protected areas, eight forest reserves, two national parks, the Bladen Nature Reserve, one wildlife sanctuary, one natural monument and the Caracol Archeological Reserve. The initiative hopes to invest that money over two years - and while they're looking at a number of sources, they're also looking at raising the $3.75 conservation fee. It's been the same since 1996 and on Tuesday, Minister Figueroa said an increase must be examined:
And one other means of raising revenue is the possibility of timber extraction from the Chiquibul. It might seem like a controversial idea, but Figueroa argues that that Guatemalan poachers have been doing it anyway, so why not try a sustainable extraction programme for the benefit of Belize?
Figueroa says that the application for concessions, including the details on bidders will be made public for transparency.
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