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FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY

Landmark Deal Will Protect Rainforests in Belize

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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Portal

http://forests.org/links/ -- Forest Conservation Links

08/09/01

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Forests.org

Following is news of a wonderful rainforest conservation victory from

Belize; where their government, the Nature Conservancy and the U.S.

government have partnered to protect 23,000 acres of highly

significant rainforest habitat. In exchange for very modest debt

relief, one of the world's richest assemblages of biodiversity is to

be protected. The area, lying south of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula

and east of Guatemala, is home to more than 220 tree species, 350

species of birds as well as jaguars, ocelots and other important

species.

The U.S. government is to be congratulated for bipartisan efforts to

establish and increase funding for the Tropical Forest Conservation

Act (TFCA). This program should be significantly expanded. There is

tremendous ecological urgency in protecting as much remaining intact,

large old-growth forest ecosystems as possible. The 10% target

espoused by many as the target for how much wildlands should be

minimally protected is woefully inadequate and will not sustain

forest ecosystem functionality or patterns of species diversity. The

Earth's remaining large forest wildlands maintain global ecological

systems, harbor vast numbers of species, allow for continued

evolution based upon a full slate of genes and species, and will

provide important benchmarks and seed materials for the coming Age of

Ecological Restoration.

In particular, I am a big fan of The Nature Conservancy. Sure, they

take money from big business like most of the other environmental

conglomerates, but they then turn around and buy and strictly protect

important habitats. They are less likely to compromise on the need

to strictly protect habitats than other large "environmental" groups,

such as those that legitimize commercial logging of forest wildlands

by working with and/or accepting money from Boise Cascade, the

Malaysian timber mafia and the like. However, the most rigorous and

successful forest conservation continues to be pursued around kitchen

tables by small groups of dedicated individuals just like you.

Organize, organize, and organize on behalf of the World's ecological

heritage.

g.b.

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Title: Landmark Deal Will Protect Rainforests in Belize

Source: Copyright 2001 Environment News Service

Date: August 3, 2001

Byline: Cat Lazaroff

WASHINGTON, DC, August 3, 2001 (ENS) - The U.S. government, with a

significant assist from The Nature Conservancy, has signed a landmark

debt for nature swap to reduce by about one-half the debt which

Belize owes to the United States. In exchange, the government of

Belize has agreed to protect 23,000 acres of vulnerable forest land

in Belize's Maya Mountain Marine Corridor, an area that includes 16

miles of pristine Caribbean coastline.

Lying south of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and east of Guatemala,

Belize's Maya Mountain Marine Corridor hosts one of the world's

richest assemblages of biodiversity. It is home to more than 220 tree

species and 350 species of birds. Wildlife that roams the landscape

includes the jaguar, ocelot, marguay, Baird's tapir, Morelet's

crocodile, scarlet macaw and the endangered West Indian manatee.

Treasury Department under secretary for international affairs John

Taylor and Belize's Ambassador to the U.S. Lisa Shoman signed the

debt for nature agreement on Thursday. Under the agreement, the U.S.

government will provide about $5.5 million authorized under the

Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA) for forest conservation in

Belize.

This money will be used in part by the Belizean conservation group

Toledo Institute of Development and Environment to purchase 8,000

acres of vulnerable forest lands, and to manage about 11,000 acres of

forestlands now under control by the Belize government as the Golden

Stream Corridor Preserve.

Under a related agreement, The Nature Conservancy will provide

$800,000 to the U.S. government to help finance the debt for nature

swap. The Nature Conservancy's total contribution to the debt for

nature swap is $1.3 million, with $500,000 having been contributed in

recent months to help conserve 4,200 acres of the 23,000 acres being

protected.

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for the conservation of one of

the world's most valuable tropical rainforest ecosystems," said Steve

McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. "I'm very

proud that the Conservancy could help Belize - a country that works

very hard to protect its natural resources - to reduce about one half

of its outstanding debt to the U.S. in exchange for its commitment to

invest in additional forest conservation."

"The forests lands being protected are vulnerable to aggressive

logging and conversion to citrus farming or shrimp farming in

artificial ponds," noted McCormick.

The Nature Conservancy-U.S. government agreement marks the first time

that a private organization has become a substantial financial

partner with the federal government in a debt for nature swap under

the TFCA. The TFCA allows the U.S. government to restructure certain

debt owed to it by developing countries with significant tropical

forests, in return for a commitment by those countries to undertake

meaningful forest conservation measures with the assistance of local

conservation organizations.

"This agreement further demonstrates the important role that the

Tropical Forest Conservation Act can play in protecting valuable

natural resources," said Representative Rob Portman, an Ohio

Republican who cosponsored the TFCA. "I applaud the efforts made by

the Bush Administration and by The Nature Conservancy in helping to

make this important agreement a reality."

The combined contributions of the U.S. government and The Nature

Conservancy will enable the outright forgiveness of about $1.4

million of Belize's debt to the United States. In return, the

government of Belize will issue $7.2 million in local currency

obligations payable to the Toledo Institute of Development and

Environment (TIDE) and the Belizean conservation groups Programme for

Belize (PfB), Belize Audubon Society (BAS), as well as a new

foundation being developed by the Protected Areas Conservation Trust

(PACT).

These organizations will establish endowment funds to manage the

protected lands.

"We are grateful for the trust and support that the people of the

United States and our friends with The Nature Conservancy have given

to TIDE and the other conservation organizations in Belize," said Wil

Maheia, TIDE's executive director. "We are quite proud that Belize is

considered by many as 'Mother Nature's best kept secret.' This

agreement will help ensure that southern Belize's renowned rainforest

will continue to host migratory birds and visitors for generations to

come."

The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor (MMMC) contains exemplary tropical

rainforests, mangrove forests, coral reefs, and more than 200 off

shore cayes. Made up of a constellation of protected areas and

government reserves, MMMC boasts upland pine savannas, seven intact

watersheds that flow into coastal wetlands and marine waters to an

offshore barrier reef, second only to the Great Barrier Reef of

Australia.

The waters along the coast of the MMMC lie on a wide continental

shelf. With offshore winds and little upwelling, the area's fisheries

cannot be supported by marine nutrients.

Instead, nutrients from the region's intact rainforests and

grasslands flow down the rivers to the coast where they drive primary

productivity through extensive mangrove forests and seagrass beds.

These, in turn, support fisheries by providing both organic matter

and habitat.

The agreement continues The Nature Conservancy's record of helping

non-governmental organizations and the Belize government to promote

environmental protection and responsible ecotourism in Belize.

The $1.3 million Nature Conservancy contribution comes from money

raised by the Conservancy's Ohio and Maryland/D.C. Chapters, whose

members have for several years supported efforts to conserve vital

wintering habitat in Belize for neotropical migratory birds. Many of

these birds, including colorful warblers, thrushes and orioles, fly

north to nest in U.S. states each summer.

Additional funding was raised from supporters of the Conservancy's

innovative Adopt-An-Acre program, which enables interested

individuals to directly support tropical forest conservation

projects.

"Our involvement in this historic agreement with Belize shows how

constructive partnerships between governments and private

organizations can be leveraged at very large scales to accomplish

impressive conservation results on the ground," said McCormick.

"These agreements will help set the stage for additional use of the

TFCA and of resources provided by The Nature Conservancy to conserve

vital tropical forests around the world."

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