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Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize
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| Photo courtesy of Belize Audubon Society |
For years, IAP partner organization Belize
Audubon Society, which co-manages several of Belize’s
federally protected areas, met resistance from community members
in and around Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary when trying
to implement conservation practices. Many local residents
who have historically used the Sanctuary’s land, water,
timber, and fish for subsistence purposes were opposed to
regulating access to these resources in the face of increased
pressures on the Sanctuary from population and development
growth. Thanks to the combined efforts of IAP and Belize Audubon,
which recently completed the first phase of its long-term
conservation initiative through a campaign in Crooked Tree,
the Sanctuary’s various stakeholders are now emerging
as supporters and catalysts of conservation efforts in this
precious ecosystem and important habitat for migratory birds.
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| Photo courtesy of Belize Audubon
Society |
Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, located
just 30 miles northwest of Belize City, encompasses a complex
landscape of nearly 36,500 acres of wetlands, savannas, lagoons
and creeks. Crooked Tree has been a Belizean protected area
since 1984 and a Wetland of International Importance under
the Ramsar Convention since 1998. The wetlands in the Sanctuary
provide flood protection to downstream communities, including
Belize City, and are an essential component in controlling
the nation’s healthy watersheds. Crooked Tree hosts
renowned bird habitat—some 332 migratory and resident
bird species have been recorded within its boundaries. The
Sanctuary’s shallow water system provides important
habitat for wetland birds, including the largest breeding
population of Jabiru Storks in Central America, as well as
Neotropical migrants, which comprise over two-thirds of the
Sanctuary’s avian species. The site also provides habitat
for several threatened species, including Yellow-headed Parrots,
Pumas, Jaguars, Baird’s Tapirs, and Neotropical River
Otters. This biologically rich Sanctuary, which is part of
one of Belize’s Important Bird Areas, is under pressure
from urban development and large-scale agricultural runoff,
both of which are quickly encroaching on the Sanctuary’s
resources, as well as habitat losses from wetland filling
and stream diversion.
IAP and Belize Audubon, in partnership
with Rare, completed a campaign in September 2009 in the communities
in and around Crooked Tree. The campaign was instrumental
in enlightening residents on the cumulative negative impacts
that their current resource extraction practices have on present
and future generations, and resonated with stakeholders in
a wide variety of trades and professions. The campaign also
made groundbreaking progress in developing strong relationships
between Belize Audubon and farmers, government officials,
and members of younger generations. Educational efforts of
the campaign reached hundreds of K-12 students in local schools,
as well as their teachers.
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| Photo courtesy of Belize Audubon
Society |
Major outcomes of this campaign include
marked increases in local community knowledge surrounding
the ecological importance of wetlands and an overall increase
in support for conserving the Sanctuary. Other notable successes
of this campaign are:
- The re-invigoration of a Citizen’s
Advisory Committee that will team with Belize Audubon in
conservation stewardship of the Sanctuary. The local interest
in Crooked Tree’s future health is a particularly
important accomplishment because going forward, Belize Audubon
will be able to better coordinate the Sanctuary’s
conservation efforts with the people whose livelihoods are
tethered to the site.
- Implementation from one-quarter of
the region’s engaged cattle farmers of at least 50%
of the recommended best practices for agricultural land
surrounding the Sanctuary. These best management practices
include leaving large trees standing in pastures, maintaining
buffer zones between wetlands and livestock areas, and practicing
rotational grazing so that grasses grow in healthier cycles.
- A more permanent relationship developed
between Belize Audubon and Belize’s Department of
Agriculture, which has since led the government to maintain
a stronger presence in Crooked Tree and to integrate best
management practices for cattle farmers and other landowners
into other regions of the country.
- Belize Audubon Society’s establishment
of a Junior Birding Club at Crooked Tree Village, which
will educate and engage members of younger generations on
the importance of conserving this important habitat for
birds. Activities such as these serve as catalysts for young
people to incorporate conservation actions into their daily
lives.
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| Photo courtesy of Belize Audubon
Society |
Belize Audubon needs sound scientific
data in order to make informed decisions about the best management
practices for the Sanctuary that will ensure the balance between
conserving habitat for birds and other species with human
uses. To this end, IAP is tapping the extensive Audubon network
in the United States for resources to help Belize Audubon
effectively assess land encroachments, biodiversity health,
and conservation progress. IAP will link experienced members
of Audubon’s network to educational leaders in Belize,
with the aim of exchanging successful educational tools that
will drive members of younger generations to act as stewards
of their local landscapes. IAP will also expand Belize Audubon’s
institutional capacity so that it can better advocate conservation
priorities with local and federal governments.
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