Nearly $1 Million to Strengthen Belize’s Conservation

Three Belizean conservation organisations are receiving a combined total of $980,617 to strengthen forest protection, enforcement and community-based conservation in some of the country’s most vulnerable border areas.

The grants, supported by the Government of Belize, the European Union and the International Organization for Migration, will benefit Ya’axché Conservation Trust, Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), and the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM).

Ya’axché will use its grant for a project focused on strengthening transboundary conservation in southern Belize’s Maya Golden Landscape. The initiative will build ranger capacity, improve enforcement coordination and increase community participation in conservation.

FCD will focus on the Chiquibul National Park. Its project will strengthen patrols, monitoring, surveillance and enforcement along a 43.5-kilometre stretch of the park’s western flank.

FCD Executive Director Rafael Manzanero thanked the EU and IOM for the opportunity, saying, “This unique programme seeks to empower conservation and environmental civil society like FCD. We are grateful for that.”

The third project will be led by SATIIM through an Indigenous-led border security and conservation initiative. It will train community members as biocultural guardians, combining Indigenous knowledge with biodiversity conservation.

The new grants form part of broader efforts by the EU and IOM to strengthen capacity in Belize’s southern and western border areas, putting resources directly into organisations and communities working on the ground to protect the country’s forests and natural and cultural heritage.