Belize and Neighbors Push for Sustainable Livestock in Selva Maya

Leaders from Belize, Guatemala, and southern Mexico met for the Trinational Roundtable on Sustainable Livestock in the Selva Maya. The goal is to improve cattle ranching practices in this biodiverse region, where ranching supports livelihoods but also drives deforestation and climate risks. The workshop focused on finding common ground to protect the environment, support rural communities, and create new market opportunities. News Five’s Zenida Lanza reports.

 

Zenida Lanza, Reporting

Farmers, experts, and association leaders from Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico are joining forces to tackle one of the Selva Maya’s biggest challenges. That is, transforming livestock farming into a more sustainable and regenerative system that benefits communities across the three regions. Nearly a dozen representatives from Mexico and Guatemala are in Belize for the Trinational Roundtable on Sustainable Livestock, addressing practices across the forests that stretch beyond our borders into Guatemala and Mexico.

 

Dr. Victoriano Pascual, Chief Agriculture Officer, MAFSE

“Livestock is very important for small producers in Belize, Mexico, and Guatemala. But there are also blame for the deforestation and the malpractice and mismanagement of the forests. Um, we expect that through these dialogue we can have better forest management, better, uh, climate, smart agriculture practices, silver pastoral system, and the goal generally is to have better market as well because you just can’t be producing and putting all these things in place without market.”

 

The Nature Conservancy is supporting the sector alongside key stakeholders through training livestock officers and farmers in hands-on, sustainable practices to make the sector greener and more productive.

 

Dr. Luciano Chi, Regenerative Agriculture Specialist, TNC

“Seeing a livestock sector that is environmentally friendly, a sector that is going to provide opportunities for our livestock farmers, But most important, I think that we need to take into consideration the policy component. within the livestock sector. So I think that Belize has all those elements that would provide the platform that opportunity for being replicated within the region.”

 

We also spoke with William Usher of the Belize Livestock Producers Association about the concerns his members have regarding deforestation and the push for more sustainable practices in the industry.

 

William Usher, Chief Executive Officer, BLPA

“Unlike any other commodity in Belize, the livestock market is open. Anything you produce, you can sell. And that really is sort of a conundrum that exists. Because you can sell anything, we will increase production. But what we need to do is to increase productivity.”

 

Belize’s livestock industry is on the rise. The national herd of over 200,000 animals is growing by about 2.3 percent each year, with plans to double that number in the next decade. The aim is to do so without expanding land use, by increasing productivity instead. Reporting for News Five, I’m Zenida Lanza.