Since 2022 the Belize Tourism Board has been making efforts to beautify portions of the city.
And now the Belize City Greening Concept is taking on the ornery Albert Street - the city's historic main drag which has long resisted beautification and aesthetic enhancement.
But, like the trees that get planted and plundered, destroyed and despoiled, looted and uprooted, hope springs eternal
Shantel Neal spoke with one of their consultants, Elena Usher, who told us about the impact of the project.
These planters on Albert street were installed on Sunday, through the efforts of the BTB's City Greening Concept.
In the past, they have been crashed into, vandalized and stolen.
It's horticulturalist Elena Usher's job to make sure that doesn't happen again. She told us that the goal is to enhance the ambiance of downtown Belize City and to keep it that way.
Elena Usher, Consultant, Horticulturalist
"Albert Street was once the center of Belize city, the main shopping area and the most popular street at one time, slowly it has been dying but it remains a major portion through which tourist walk so the impact is to get it green, colorful with lovely plants to enhance the ambiance of the place and to try and give some more life or give some life back to this area."
While acknowledging the challenges, Usher emphasizes the project's significance and encourages everyone to contribute to the plants' well-being.
Elena Usher, Consultant, Horticulturalist
"We have done potions of Central American Boulevard and the major challenge is the theft of the plants and just plain vandalism where people just destroy the plants, they step on them, they roll their motorbikes on it, They just walk through it, they just don't care. That is the major challenge that we have."
"I would like to ask everybody who sees these plants going up, I mean everyone in the city, it doesn't matter who. Starting with the homeless, the children from the schools and everybody, to please take care of them it's a major effort. Plants are living and as such they have their own requirements that they need. If we see something very pretty, why are we going to destroy it? Let's put all our efforts into taking care of all these things. In the end it's for the benefits of all of us."
And for those who would deprive the public of those benefits, they'll have to cart away or risk colliding into a 250 to 500 pound planter. Yes, that's how much each of these specially designed institutional grade planters weigh.
Elena Usher, Consultant, Horticulturalist
"We had to use pots, these are great heavy concrete pots, 1 so that they cannot be taken and they are hardy."
To ensure healthy growth and full maturity, Usher says that the plants will be maintained for a duration of one year.
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