Maya Mountains Marine Corridor

Belize is slightly smaller than Massachusetts and rainforest covers 93 percent of the country. Belize also boasts the second largest barrier reef in the world (next to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia). The reef is 184 km long and extends the entire length of the country. The reef is dotted with over 200 'cayes' (islands, pronounced "keys"). Belize is well known for its rain forests and its healthy coral reefs.

The Maya Mountains Marine Corridor is located in Toledo, Belize's southern most district. The Toledo district is considered the forgotten district in Belize, separated from the rest of the country by a long unpaved road. Also setting Toledo apart from the rest of Belize is the enormous rainfall - up to 12 feet each year. As a result, much of the district is left intact and maintains an abundance of unexplored and undeveloped rainforests, that provide home to a great diversity of tropical plants and animals. The southern highway is now being paved, bringing with it, the threats of logging, agricultural expansion, and the irreversible conversion of wild lands.

The residents of Toledo are mostly Mayan Indians, living in small villages, and who are direct descendants of the great Mayan civilization that collapsed several hundred years ago. These villages rely on subsistence farming. The district also provides home to Garifuna people - who came to Central America from Africa. The Maya Mountains Marine Corridor therefore includes a wealth of cultures and habitats, animals and plants, in a largely intact corridor of southern Belize.

Ridges to Reef Diversity

The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor is about a million acres (405,000 hectares). This corridor links the ridge of the Maya Mountains to the Belize Barrier Reef and contains wet tropical rainforest, 10% of the country's mangrove forests and spectacular coral reefs.

With over 12 feet of rainfall (higher than 90% of the rest of Central America) the highlands are intimately tied to the lowlands via runoff and a series of rivers. These waterways act as a meeting place for many animals, such as jaguars, that migrate freely from the mountainous areas to coastal lowlands for food and breeding. In addition the coastal and marine waters directly offshore provide home to a wide a variety of marine life, such as manatee, dolphins and marine fishes. Some of these fishes are giant - like the jewfish, which can be over 600 hundred pounds.

Due to this tremendous natural diversity, The Nature Conservancy and the Toledo Institute for Development and the Environment formed a partnership to conserve this unparalleled "Ridge to Reef" conservation corridor in southern Belize.

The Maya Mountains Marine Corridor is home to several rare and endangered species, large and small terrestrial and marine mammals, predatory carnivores, migrant and local birds, small and large reptiles and amphibians. The forests and savannas are home to all five of the wild cat species found in Latin America, jaguars, pumas, ocelots, jaguarundis, and margays as well as tapirs, peccaries, howler and spider monkeys, crocodiles and snakes. Manatee, dolphin, hawksbill turtles, iguanas, hickatee turtles and many colorful tropical fish live in the coastal areas. The coral reefs of Belize are some of the most pristine in the region.

Conservation Actions

Working in partnership, the Toledo Institute for Development and The Nature Conservancy have developed a comprehensive conservation program for the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor. Most importantly, TIDE is working closely with local communities to ensure that they benefit from the conservation of the area.

As a result, TIDE is training local people to act as tourism guides. Their intimate knowledge of the area is very valuable as they bring tourists paddling through jungle lined creeks or snorkeling in the turquoise blue water of a healthy coral reef. With increased understanding from TIDE's training programs, guides are knowledgeable naturalists, and very safety conscious. TIDE is also planning for and managing protected areas in the corridor.

Finally, recognizing the increasing threat of development, logging, and unsustainable agriculture, TIDE has embarked on a land purchase and preservation program to protect Toledo's wild lands and waters.