I headed back to Belize City, where I was to meet Alex Page, project manager for Coral Cay Conservation, who had arranged for me to visit the base camps for the Coral Caye volunteers. While the supply boat was being loaded at the Ramada marina, a worker pointed out two large manatee swimming just off the dock. I'd never seen them so close to the city before. This must have been a good omen. The weather was perfect as we set off for tiny Mauger Caye, a speck of land off the north point of the atoll.
Clustered beneath the wrought iron lighthouse and shaded by coconut trees were the tents of the mainly British volunteers, out her for a month to learn how to identify reef life before taking part in ecological surveys. Angelino, the young but very experienced captain of "The Witch," knows the atoll like the back of his hand, but we arrived too late to complete the journey to Calabash Caye - even he won't venture across the reefs in the dark - so I was treated to a night on Mauger Caye.
After meeting the staff and volunteers (including a woman from Russia) I climbed the spiral staircase of the lighthouse for a breathtaking sunset. The rich green mangrove forest of the caye was spread out below me as the disk of molten gold slid into the sea. It was such a sublime experience I didn't want to come down. So after dinner I took my mattress and sheet up to the small, railed platform below the solar powered light and slept - for a while. The wind, so refreshing at sea level, was a roaring gale up here, and I started to feel a chill. The second half of the night was spent, at ground level, scratching sandfly bites.
Angelino left Mauger Caye at 5 a.m., just as the breakfast crew were preparing the daily porridge, on another perfect morning. As we crossed the reef crest from the lagoon, dolphins cruised in the little boat's wake, and we were rolling with swell of the open ocean. As the sun rose, thickly forested green cayes materialized in the cobalt blue of the sea, apparently untouched since the dawn of time - a vision of a pristine landscape. Perhaps a vision of the future? This beautiful morning appeared to hold out a message of hope.
Our destination was Calabash Caye, on the southeastern side of the atoll and the site of UCB's Marine Research Centre, also Coral Cay's main base in Belize. The Centre, purpose-built by previous Coral Caye volunteers, was hosting a mangrove workshop, given by experts from the Smithsonian Institute to Belizean students and conservation officials. The delegates already had a high level of knowledge, as I saw from the slide lectures I attended - the field and laboratory sessions were beyond my capabilities. Here it was, then, by a fortunate chance I'd come across a collection of the best brains in the field of marine conservation in Belize , and many of them were Belizean. These and the other people I'd interviewed had sown the seed of natural resource conservation. And, nurtured in the pristine environment of Turneffe Atoll, strengthened by advice from agencies and legislation from government, the seed would thrive, grow and mature, offering real protection to the natural world and all its inhabitants.
I've concentrated here on the northern cayes and atolls, but before anyone in the south feels neglected I'd like to mention the work which has recently been completed to develop a nationwide system of reserves, detailed in a new report from Natural Resources Management Project (NARMAP): Towards a National Protected Area Systems Plan for Belize. This immense project has the task of listing why certain habitats need protection in order to preserve a substantial, representative area of each type of habitat found in Belize. Besides Bacalar Chico, which has been declared a National Park, the famous Blue Hole is now protected as a Natural Monument. Farther south, Laughing Bird Caye National Park, off Placencia, was increased in size from 1.8 acres to over 10,000 acres, to protect the whole faro, an undersea mountain. The park is being managed by a non-profit organization, Friends of Laughing Bird Caye. Placencia peninsula itself and the lagoon to the west, have also been identified as "sites of nature conservation interest," important for manatee and nesting hawksbill turtles. Both species are completely protected in Belize.
South Water Caye and the Sapodilla Cayes are are under consideration as marine reserves. The latter, used by visitors from Honduras and Guatemala as well as Belize, may eventually form part of a three-country protected area. Payne's Creek National Park, south of Monkey River, is part of a much wider region of protected lands, including Monkey River Special Development Area, which is attracting tourism investment. This will have to be carefully monitored to ensure compliance with the law, and to provide sustainable use of the coastal zone. Over a dozen sites on Belize's reef have been proposed as World Heritage Sites, which will allow funding for management under the UN's "Man and the Biosphere" program.
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