Pristine
rainforest… cascading waterfalls, monkeys playing, butterflies fluttering,
cutter ants marching, birds creating music, ancient Maya ruins… welcome to the
Maya Mountain Marine Corridor in southern Belize.
This is an urgent appeal for our fragile
planet.
We talk of conserving the Earth, of reducing our carbon emissions, of “doing
our bit” but what have you done today to
make a difference? If the answer is “not enough”, don’t just sit there with
a frown! You could be part of saving 1,110 acres of tropical
rainforest in one of the most pristine parts of Mesoamerica. You could give
endangered wildlife, such as jaguars and tapirs, a place to roam free from hunting. You could be part of reducing climate change by locking up hundreds of thousands of tons of carbon that may
otherwise go up in smoke. And, because the coral reefs downstream rely on these
forests to filter crystal clear water, by protecting the forest, you
could help preserve the incredible Belize Barrier Reef.
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View
over the Rio Grande: The ‘Seven Hills Range’ is visible
in the background and in the foreground, you can see one of the ranger stations
of the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment. The land we
seek to purchase lies upstream from here, to the left of this image, and is likewise
carpeted by lush forest.
Our
Campaign
The Toledo Institute for Development and
Environment (TIDE) is a non-profit conservation organization based in Belize’s
southernmost district, Toledo. We have the opportunity to purchase and protect
1,110 acres of tropical broadleaf forest and we are seeking your support.
The piece of rainforest in question lies by
the banks of the Rio Grande in the heart of one of the world’s
biodiversity havens, the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor in Toledo. The image
below shows a view from the river with the land we wish to purchase on the left
bank.
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The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor stretches
from the pristine old-growth rainforest of the Maya Mountains to the coral
reefs of the Snake Cayes (Map 1). It is an unspoiled place that
provides a glimpse into the past, a route back to a different world when
forests blanketed Mesoamerica and the underwater theatre of the coral reef
played out in all its natural glory.
The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor supports no
less than 48 globally threatened or endangered species. At least 20 of these
occur in the parcel of forest we seek to purchase, including jaguar, Baird’s
tapir, Yucatan black howler monkey, keel-billed motmot and the Central American
river turtle, known locally as ‘hicatee’.
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Map 1: The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor is made up of the Port Honduras
Marine Reserve and the watersheds of the six rivers that flow into it,
including the Rio Grande.
The purchase of this land will help complete
an important wildlife corridor that TIDE has been working on for 12 years (Map
2). The neighboring land parcels are already managed for conservation.
The sale price of the land is $300,000. Our longstanding
partner, the Quebec Labrador Foundation, and its supporters have already
secured $250,000. We therefore only need to raise a further $50,000 to purchase
this remarkable piece of rainforest. We seek to raise at least 10% of that
total with this campaign.
If we succeed, we will place the land under a
permanent conservation agreement and manage it to make sure the forest is
protected in reality and not just on paper.
If we fail to purchase the land, it will most likely be sold to a developer who will replace the ancient forest with a monoculture of banana or citrus with devastating consequences for the forest and harming the downstream aquatic and marine ecosystems.
Please donate to protect this amazing natural treasure.
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Map 2: The 1,110-acre parcel of land that we seek to purchase (highlighted
in red) will complete an important wildlife corridor by connecting conserved
lands owned by TIDE (to the northeast, northwest and southwest) with conserved
lands owned by a private eco-tourism resort (to the west). It also plays an
important role in protecting the Rio Grande, which runs by the eastern and
southern boundaries, and the Port Honduras Marine Reserve downstream.
What you
could be part of protecting
Due to its remoteness, this 1,110-acre parcel of
tropical rainforest has largely been spared from logging and hunting. Ancient
trees still tower above the main forest canopy and wildlife is abundant.
The forest provides habitat to hundreds of
species of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. TIDE has captured images of
some of its inhabitants using camera traps.
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Big cats still thrive in the area because
their prey – animals such as agoutis, peccaries, deer and armadillos – are
still plentiful. A healthy puma like the one above is a sign of a healthy
ecosystem.
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The iconic jaguar is a symbol of stealth and
deadly beauty. These big cats share the forest with three smaller cat species,
the ocelot, the margay and the jaguarundi.
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Weighing in at around 20 lbs, the ocelot is
about ten times smaller than the jaguar.
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Baird’s tapir is the national animal of Belize.
The forest we invite you to conserve forms part of one of the last strongholds
for this endangered animal.
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Protecting the forest will also protect aquatic
species, such as this critically endangered ‘hicatee’ turtle. The stretch of
the Rio Grande that runs past the forest in question contains one of the
world’s last populations. Forested riverbanks are necessary to maintain the deep river channel that hicatees require. In the picture above,
TIDE ranger Louis Ishim (left) and terrestrial ecologist Elmar Requena pose
with an adult female they are measuring to determine the status of the
population.
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Morelet’s crocodile is another Rio Grande
resident. It is a conservation success story, having bounced back from near
extinction.
As if you needed another reason to donate, there is another huge reason why this forest deserves protection – Belize is home to the world’s second longest barrier reef, the Belize
Barrier Reef, home to thousands of amazing and colorful species, such as this
nudibranch in the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.
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Aerial view of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve
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Corals depend on crystal clear waters. Sadly, this makes them extremely vulnerable to pollution from the land. When the forest is cleared, soils erode under the heavy tropical rains and plumes of muddy brown water extend out to sea for many miles, smothering corals and killing them.But all is not lost. The Belize Barrier Reef is still healthy compared with most Caribbean reefs and one of the main reasons is that Belize still enjoys 62% forest cover. The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor has 90% forest cover and the Rio Grande has excellent water quality.
The river empties into the Port Honduras Marine Reserve, which boasts some of the healthiest coral gardens in the entire Belize Barrier Reef. Please help us to keep it this way. Please make a donation, large or small.
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Clear blue waters at West Snake Caye in the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.
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Soft corals and fishes at East Snake Caye in
the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.
Purchase for permanence
This
forest will not be bought and forgotten. Far from it! It will be actively
monitored and protected by TIDE’s scientists and rangers, who will conduct
regular monitoring to detect threats and patrols to prevent hunting, logging or other harm.
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TIDE ranger Santiago Cucul investigates
evidence of illegal logging.
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TIDE ranger Andrew Williams on patrol on the
Rio Grande.
And this campaign is not an isolated action. It forms part of a much wider program and conservation and sustainable development by the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment with just a few examples below.
Our annual Youth Conservation Competition sees young
people give theatrical performances to build awareness and appreciation of
Belize’s natural heritage.
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Our award-winning “Freshwater Cup” soccer and
environmental competition engages hundreds of children each year in planning
and carrying out their own environmental projects, such as this tree-planting
project by Big Falls School boys team.
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One of the ways we involve communities is to train young people to assist with environmental monitoring. Here, a group studies for a bird identification exam.
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Once qualified, we employ them to do
various monitoring activities, such as coral reef health monitoring.
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We train local fishers to switch to tour-guiding. Southern Belize boasts some of
the best fly-fishing in the world and here Mr. Scully Garbutt, a tour guide
trained by TIDE, releases a tarpon.
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Who we
are
The Toledo Institute for Development and
Environment is a grassroots conservation organization made up of passionate Belizean
and international personnel committed to protecting Toledo’s natural wonders
and helping its people develop in harmony with nature.
We were founded in 1997 and have since grown
into one of the most well respected NGOs in Belize. We have just over 30
permanent staff plus five to ten volunteers. We co-manage the Port Honduras
Marine Reserve and Payne’s Creek National Park in partnership with the
Government of Belize and manage over 20,000 acres of private lands that we hold
in trust for the people of Belize and to which this latest land purchase will add an important piece.
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The TIDE team (minus most of the field staff) in September 2013. Our executive director, Mrs. Celia Mahung, is in the middle in green. Yours truly is fourth from the left on the back row.
Once again, we ask you to join us in
protecting the fragile ecosystems of the Earth by donating to the purchase of 1,110
acres of lush rainforest in the heart of the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor.
This will complete an important wildlife corridor, provide a safe place for
endangered species and help maintain healthy ecosystems in the marine reserve
downstream. Please, do something that will take a minute but last for millennia!
For more information about TIDE,
please visit www.tidebelize.org and find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TIDEBZE?ref=hl.