Let’s face it!
Our world is awesome! Belize is proud to be the home of the largest Barrier
Reef in the Western Hemisphere, a haven for awesome and diverse marine life.
The Belize Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage Marine Site, and if you have
ever had the good fortune to dive or snorkel in this area, you will understand
why Charles Darwin declared it to be, “the most remarkable reef in the West Indies”.
Charles Darwin, the originator of the theory of evolution studied “life” and
its “origin” and found it in Belize’s Barrier Reef.
The Belize
Barrier Reef is the longest in both the Northern and Western Hemisphere, linking
the country’s coastline for almost 140 miles, an extensive wall made up of beautiful,
live, coral organisms. The reef is the home of 70 hard coral species, 36 soft
coral species, 500 species of fish, the West Indian manatee, green turtle,
hawksbill turtle, loggerhead turtle, American crocodile, and hundreds of
invertebrate species. The Belize Barrier Reef System includes 9 marine reserves:
·
Bacalar
Chico
·
Caye
Caulker
·
Gladden
Spit & Silk Cayes
·
Glover’s
Reef
·
Hol
Chan
·
Port
Honduras
·
Sapodilla
Cayes
·
South
Water Caye
·
Turneffe
Atoll
Belize is also
home to 3 of the 4 atolls in the northern hemisphere:
·
Glover’s
Reef Atoll
·
Lighthouse
Reef Atoll
·
Turneffe
Islands Atoll,
Many government,
international, regional, national, and local organizations work together to
protect the reef, few of these include:
·
Forest
Department
·
Fisheries
Department
·
Southern
Environmental Association
·
Coral
Reef Alliance
·
Wildlife
Conservative Society,
·
Natural
Conservancy
·
Ecomar
·
Green
Reef
·
Oceana
·
APAMO
·
PACT
·
Belize
Audubon Society
·
Placencia
Mooring Masters
The reef is
Belize’s livelihood and without it Belize as we know it would not exist,
therefore conservation of the reef is primal. The hard work of many of these
organizations have resulted in the implementation of many conservation laws including:
·
Coral
Reef Conservation Act (CRCA)
·
Fishing
Regulation in the protected area
o
Protecting
parrotfish, grazers, Nassau grouper (an endangered species)
·
Banning
spearfishing within marine reserves
·
No-
take Zones in protected areas:
o
South
Water Caye, Sapodilla Cayes marine reserves, and Pelican Cayes
The goals for protection of
the Belize Barrier Reef Reserves include working with local fishermen to manage
the use of the reserve, raising public awareness of the value of the ocean, and
to maintain fishing regulations. Conservation of the Belize Barrier Reef not
only allows for the growth and development of a diverse eco-system, but also for
maintaining the aesthetic beauty for all divers to experience such an amazing wonder.
Many local
organizations that call Placencia home are active in reef conservation.
Splash Dive
Center facilitates many community projects such as Splash Kids Club, The Placencia
Mooring Masters lion fish culling. Through Splash Kids Club, local children are
given the opportunity to become professional divers, and are thought about the
importance of reef conservation. The Placencia Mooring Masters is a community
organization that protect Belize's Reef through the installation
of anchor mooring buoys, to prevent permanent damage to the reef caused by
dropped anchors and their dragging chains. Splash has paid for mooring buoys at
Silk Cayes and Laughing Bird National Park and has provided dive equipment to
assist with the installations. Together
we all can protect the Belize Barrier Reef.
Contact Patty at patricia@splashbelize.com to
find out how you can help us protect the Belize Barrier Reef!
