In Belize, Marine Conservation Is Fueled by Community Engagement

Conservation success now depends on the collaborative work of Belize’s government, nonprofit organizations, businesses and local communities like Chunox to develop strategies that protect and restore ocean resources such as coastal fisheries, strengthen co-management efforts and support the livelihoods and well-being of the people who depend on the ocean.

“The voices of the fishers are being heard,” says Arevalo. “Because of the Blue Bonds agreement, now I see park managers, organizations who come more to the community and involve us in what happens in the management of the ocean.”

Life Shaped by the Sea

Coastal communities in Belize are integrally connected to the ocean. Children learn to swim at a young age. Families gather on beaches to spend time with each other. Sons grow up fishing with their fathers. The ocean does not just feed families but also serves as the backbone of local economies.

For many fishers, there also is an emotional connection.

“The sunrise, the sunset, getting a good catch,” says Carlos Arevalo, who chairs the Chunox Fishermen Association and is Amisai’s father and who has spent his life fishing the local waters. “All those things make you stay in love with the blue.”

But climate change, pollution, fishing pressures, coastal development and other human activities put a strain on marine ecosystems and in turn the livelihoods of fishing communities and others. These challenges underscore the need for sustainable management that balances nature and livelihoods.

The members of the Chunox Fishermen Association, who live on the coast of northern Belize and fish in the waters around the Turneffe Atoll, are trying to find a balance.

With the support of a $40,000 (USD) grant, the Chunox Fishermen Association is working to support sustainable fisheries and find ways to bolster the economic health of their community. The grant was from the independent conservation trust fund established to manage and allocate the funds unlocked by the Blue Bonds project, the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future (Belize Fund).

“A new generation is coming,” says Carlos Arevalo, “and we need to have a sustainable fishing ground for our community, this community, to be alive.”

The association’s approach is multifold. They are working to build capacity by training leaders in their association, many of whom did not go to high school, to know how to speak with government, writing letters to advocate for the effective management of marine protected areas and applying for grants.

“Without good leaders, we cannot guide the rest of our members,” says Carlos Arevalo.

The grant also helped association members train in financial, data-collection and business management skills that help improve resilience, especially when conch quotas are met early and fishers cannot fish until the season opens again. Data on fish populations and threats in their fishing grounds help fishers collaborate with co-managers and others. Catch records can also help fishers qualify for loans to support businesses and their families.

“It's the fishers who are 24-7 out there. They’re the ones who really are on the ground,” says Amisai Arevalo. “They know the sea. They know even which rock, which patch of reef has a lot of fish production and which reefs don't. Nobody is better to protect the resources than the ones who use the resources.”

Co-managing for Sustainable Ecosystems and Local Livelihoods

Thirty kilometers east of Chunox, the fishing village of Sarteneja sits adjacent to the Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize’s second-largest marine protected area and a vital refuge for marine life like endangered manatees and other species of the northern estuary. The sanctuary’s co-manager, a nonprofit organization called the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD), works with the government and the local community to ensure the marine area is effectively managed.

A $175,000 (USD) grant from the Belize Fund is helping SACD with monitoring wildlife, the management of the sanctuary and continued sustainable access for traditional livelihoods.

“SACD’s success is built on collaboration and relationships,” says Joel Verde, the executive director of SACD and a former fisher and tour guide. “We are working with the local fishers who practice beach trap fishing. Their voices and their decisions are being respected, and that relationship is mutual.”

While extractive activities are prohibited in the sanctuary, a small number of fishers are allowed to continue the traditional practice of beach trap fishing in a sustainable way. This technique involves catching fish swimming along the coast, which are guided by a tail-like fence extending from the beach into a heart shaped enclosure. Fish species that are too small or protected under fisheries regulations can be simply tossed back into the ocean.

In addition to protecting the wildlife sanctuary, SACD looks out for the beach trap fishers’ interests, says Abisai Canul, who fishes at several beach traps a short boat ride from the village. If someone wants to build a pier or develop a hotel, which would involve clearing the mangroves that line the coast and losing critical nurseries for the young fish that replenish the populations local fishers rely on for their catch, SACD will meet with fishers and then negotiate on their behalf.

SACD is also helping develop alternative livelihoods for local fishers like Canul, who has trained to lead tourists on experiential tours where they ride out on the water to see first-hand how fishers use sustainable practices to support healthy marine systems. Afterward, Canul brings the visitors back to his home, and they dine together on the day’s catch cooked by his wife and mother.

“We want to promote a sustainable, more community-based tourism that supports conservation and at the same time provides employment opportunities and income for the local families we work with,” says Verde.

While SACD and local fishing villages are working together to protect the sanctuary, Verde admits he still worries about threats they cannot control, such as climate change, coastal development and unsustainable tourism.

“Sometimes we place a lot of pressure on the fishers about overfishing,” says Verde. “But we're not putting the same efforts to address illegal development and the cutting down of our mangroves and nursery areas, and the effects of pollution and wastewater into our oceans that can have or is having major impact to our reef systems.”

Communities as Agents of Change

Blue Bonds funding has already gone a long way.

Through the development of the Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan (BSOP), Belize expanded its biodiversity protection zones to 25% protection of its ocean and is quickly approaching 30%. Built on science and the engagement of stakeholders from across marine sectors and civil society, the BSOP will guide the future management of the nation’s ocean, including its territorial seas and exclusive economic zone, while identifying where conservation, fisheries, tourism and other economic activities can best coexist. In doing so, it supports both biodiversity protection and the sustainable growth of Belize’s blue economy.

Funding has also supported improved management of 14 marine protected areas through investments in monitoring and enforcement, including ranger salaries and technologies such as aerial and underwater drones. These efforts have strengthened the protection and monitoring of marine biodiversity, including more than 500 marine species. Funding has also supported other initiatives ranging from the creation of a manatee rehabilitation facility to scientific research of marine ecosystems and the outplanting of more than 17,000 coral fragments to restore damaged reefs.

The Blue Bonds project has also led to a less tangible—but just as important—impact: greater conservation vigilance among community members.

“We’re seeing a lot of awareness of how, day-to-day, the Blue Bonds project can impact people’s livelihoods,” says Alana Godoy, TNC’s Belize Blue Bonds director. “If there is coastal development or dredging happening in a place, you’ll hear people say, ‘Why are they doing this? Why is this happening? We have this Blue Bonds agreement.’”

That growing awareness is encouraging fishing communities and others to speak up for their ocean resources and engage in national conservation planning and action.

Leandra Cho-Ricketts, executive director of the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future, says this active participation is essential for the Belize Blue Bonds project to be successful.

“What we are working to promote more and more is elevating the people, the communities,” she says. “Because real change will come from them getting involved in the process, seeing why this is important and not just seeing it as a role of the government. And I think that’s the opportunity.”

A Global Model for Hope

Belize is making strong progress toward its conservation goals under the Blue Bonds project, and the work is inspiring hope.

“It’s just amazing to see how the system has evolved and has become resilient. And I think the same can be said for people,” says Godoy. “Every day the fishermen get out on the ocean and fish. We show up to work with the mission of conservation at the forefront. Despite everything, things thrive.”

Amisai Alrevalo says he hopes the actions he and his fellow fishers in Chunox are taking to improve local livelihoods and ocean resources will one day bring benefits to other fishing communities.

“I see my community being influential not only in Belize, but maybe being a role model for the world,” he says. “That is something that we want to do, having this community be a role model for other communities to replicate as successful.”