7 News Belize

Scarlet Macaw Population Decreases, Cattle Ranching Increases
posted (September 12, 2019)

The Friends For Conservation and Development (FCD) issued two press releases today.

We’ll start off with their report that one of the Chiqibul’s most iconic species may be in danger of disappearing. Illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching has affected the scarlet macaw for many years. But this year FCD has documented that more than 25 of Belize’s largest parrots were lost at the hands of Guatemalan poachers. Maintaining a credible deterrence against poachers across the landscape has been a difficult task due to limited resources. Other Guatemalan communities may well be engaged in this activity; therefore, the losses could well be double or triple. If this trend continues, the species could become extinct in a relatively short period.

To address this situation FCD is taking a number of steps. They will seek funds that will allow them to deploy rangers across larger areas, request permission to extract and raise high risk parrots in labs, impose the highest penalties for poachers caught in the act and finally encourage citizen volunteering for assistance in biomonitoring. 

Moving on to the issue of Cattle ranching...

A spike in cattle ranching along Belize’s western border has been documented over the last 5 years. In March, more than 80 pastures were documented in an area of the western border. The increase appears to be occurring more aggressively.

A more aggressive encroachment with more investment appears to be made by Guatemalan groups moving further into the territory. These areas require a serious and persistent intervention aimed at dismantling Guatemalan investments before these come further into Belize and claim more ownership of the land. 

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize