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The Launch Of The South Chiquibul Enforcement Unit
posted (July 6, 2012)
The war in Belize City's streets may dominate the media - but the real battle of Belize is going on every day and night in the Chiquibul National Park.

The park covers 7.7% of Belize's land mass - and it is under severe stresses from Guatemalans who come across for farmland, timber, Xate, game meat, and now even gold.

And that's why The Friends For Conservation and Development has built a conservation post which will house the South Chiquibul Enforcement Unit.

The fact is very little is known about South Chiquibul because it is extremely remote and requires an arduous two day hike to get there.

But it is now the latest hotspot in the battle the save the Chiquibul from the silent invasion.

The new building at Ceibo Chico was inaugurated on Wednesday and here's the story:..

Jules Vasquez reporting
This is the Ceibo Chico Conservation post at the southern end of the Chiquibul Forest.

This map shows its location in the vicinity of the Boiton Camps where they are mining for gold.

Rafael Manzanero, Executive Director, Friends For Conservation and Development
"The activity that is taking place here is mining of gold and Guatemalans have now gather that gold is there and so now there is a spiral of activities taking place in south Chiquibul, so we believe that there was an importance of group putting a presence there institutionally to be able to address that and the other issues occurring in south Chiquibul."

And that's why this post will be the most difficult to hold - it is an embattled area of the Chiquibul:

Hon. Lisel Alamilla, Minister of Forestry
"The establishment of disabled Chico Conservation Post is a strategic investment in providing additional presence in the Chiquibul. It is expected that the conservation post will bolster our effective perimeter along the border area and will support units in the Rio Blanco and the Machaquila Conservation Post."

Rafael Manzanero
"Each should be for 8 soldiers, for 2 rangers. The building is already set up there. It actually has a verandah porch all around the building. I know in that more than here it will require the people to stag which means that they will have to stay at nights just taking vigilance because that is a very active area of illegal activities taking place."

"What the purpose of conservation post - it's to strengthen enforcement efforts to effectively address the illegal activities occurring in the Chiquibul forest and thereby provide for a stable eco-system where the wild animals and plants can survive under a more secure environment."

Hon. Lisel Alamilla, Minister of Forestry
"This will ensure that Belize Defence Force, the Police Department and Friends for Conservation and Development; that is the co-manager for the Chiquibul - that they have a good location from which to do their patrols and to conduct their research."

And apart from the fact that it is an area where poachers are known to frequent - and to despoil, it is also extremely remote:

Rafael Manzanero
"And then how are we going to make that building into that far area; that was a big question right, even for the working group 'is this thing going to happen?' we said we have to do it, it's a Cabinet directive and we need really to develop this and frankly we should have done this since the month of March."

"We started really to maneuver and at a point I said that these guys are going to take about a month to create this building. Amazingly they finish it in about two weeks. I don't know if it's because they wanted to come out from that area, but they in a fast paste were able to finish this building."

And that remote setting is why launch of the post was held at Tapir camp - another, more accessible conservation post - in the Chiquibul National Park, the presence of the minister an important signal that the post has the sovereign sanction to protect and preserve the area.

PACT has also donated a tractor to FCD so that they can get patrols to the remote area more easily. The deployment begins next week.

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