Project Balam Na, Belize
In association with Wildtracks
Background
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he Balam Na Forest was established as a reserve in Belize to protect the forest and wildlife that inhabit it. Balam Na is a Mayan name meaning "home of the jaguar" which makes its home here.
Over the past two years, Wildtracks, a non-profit organization based in Belize, has worked towards the conservation of this important area that falls within the Meso-American Biological Corridors Program. This program links reserves throughout Belize (and, in fact, throughout Central America) to provide routes allowing wildlife to move from one area to another, in an international effort to ensure that biological diversity is maintained. Tropical Rainforest Coalition has partnered with Wildtracks for these conservation efforts.
Objectives
1. The establishment of a biological corridor to link the Shipstern Nature Reserve with Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve, as part of the Northern Belize Biological Corridors Project.
2. To prevent the isolation of the reserves, and thereby reduce the loss of biodiversity, and to promote the sustainable use of the biological corridors by stakeholder communities.
Methodologies
The approach to forest protection and the development of sustainable use varies with location along the biological corridor route.
The first step in this corridor is the establishment of the Fireburn Reserve, which is a joint project between the Fireburn Community and Wildtracks, protecting 1,750 acres of rainforest and wetlands.
The second step is the establishment of the Balam Na protected area—a partnership between Wildtracks and three private stakeholders, protecting a total of approximately 750 acres of rainforest and 100 acres of wetlands.
The third step involves negotiations with a large private landowner, for the possible acquisition of a portion of land needed to complete this biological corridor linkage.
The funds received from the TRC are being used towards the acquisition of "El Tigré Forest"—specifically they have been used towards to the cost of surveying the western-most block of 213 acres. This survey is the main step in the process of the acquisition of this tract of forest from the Government of Belize for the purposes of conservation and sustainable development.
El Tigré is not only rich in mammal species, but also has several commercially attractive tree species: Mahogany and Santa Maria among them. As timber stocks in other areas of the country become scarce, this has caused an increased pressure on this forest, and hence the need to protect it from illegal timber rustling.
With quick, positive actions, however, Wildtracks has managed to ensure that the logging activities (most of which are illegal timber rustling) are kept from within the El Tigré area by cutting survey lines and putting gates across entrance tracks, illegal loggers are persuaded to avoid the area.
Conservation activities also include building environmental awareness through school activities for both primary and secondary level education. By exposing youth to the natural environment and where they can witness the rich wildlife they have around them, it will help build an appreciation of the tropical forest, and a respect that extends beyond viewing it just as an area to strip of its timber resources.
Continued funding will insure further acquisition of forest acreage for the corridor and allow continued building of environmental awareness of the region's inhabitants.
Volunteer Information
There are no specific volunteer opportunities available at this time.