BELIZE (Commonwealth Union)_In the magnificent nation of Belize, there are plenty of warm, humid rainforests, cold tropical rivers, mangrove forests, and animals. Belize is a unique location where you can get away into remote wilderness. It is thrilling to travel along a jungle path utilized by jaguars and tapirs as boisterous flocks of parrots insult the world violently from above. I enjoy being in Belize.
Belize’s expanding conservation initiatives and efforts to create a sustainable ecotourism industry. Belize is made considerable gains in reserving areas of land for preserves, wildlife refuges, and national parks. Additionally, the number of privately owned preserves is growing. As a crucial component of the Jaguar Corridor Initiative, which is building protected habitat from northern Mexico to Brazil, recent initiatives include expanding the Maya Forest Corridor. The first Blue Bond Agreement of its sort was signed by Belize this year. The Nature Conservancy created this deal, and Belize consented to a financial transaction permitting a $364 million debt burden reduction and generating a projected $180 million for marine conservation including the protection of 30% of Belize’s coastal waters.
Less than a mile inland from the Caribbean Sea, a group of brackish water lagoons are located in an environmentally delicate area south of Belize City. Some of these lagoons are located inside the 22 terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem-rich Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary. Protecting the severely endangered Antillean manatee and two other species is one of the sanctuary’s goals (Central American river turtle and the goliath grouper). The Baird’s tapir, yellow-headed parrot, and Mexican black howler monkey are just a few of the other endangered species that call this sanctuary home. The most crucial nesting region for the severely endangered hawksbill sea turtle, the endangered green sea turtle, and the threatened loggerhead sea turtle is a stretch of beachfront between the lagoons and the ocean.
Aquifers, water storage, and water purification are all made possible by limestone, a rock that is water soluble. Mining and blasting will destroy and modify ground water flow through the karst, collapse caverns where Mayan artifacts are still present, contaminate springs, and cause artesian wells to completely dry up. The streams and rivers supplying the Southern Lagoon will suffer damage from mining-related sedimentation and changed surface water discharge. Along its journey, the conveyer belt will spread dust and other material that will harm the environment’s ecology and beauty.
Toxic gases and dangerous particles like silica dioxide will be released during both the blasting of the limestone hills and the crushing of the rock into the desired aggregate sizes. Dead zones for wildlife will result from habitat loss and degradation to both terrestrial and marine ecosystems during this process.
Further deterioration of the area’s natural beauty will be caused by housing associated to industry and traffic of large mining equipment. There is no longer any chance for sustainable eco-cultural tourism. In turn, maintaining and advancing the villagers’ culture would get harder and harder. The limestone hills of the Southern Lagoon’s mining industry will be a case of history repeating itself: giant, affluent businesses will enter small nations to take advantage of their natural riches, leaving behind a depleted region at the expense of the local culture. Humanity must eventually transcend this cycle of avarice and devastation.
Photo Credit nationalgeographic.com
