Chiquibul Sees Alarming Logging Resurgence

Illegal logging is surging, and the Forest Department is struggling to keep up. Minister Orlando Habet says limited staff and loggers who strike at night or in remote areas are stretching rangers thin. With only a few new forest guards coming, the ministry is turning to police, and possibly the B.D.F., for help. But officials warn that outdated fines and aggressive extraction are damaging forests faster than they can recover. FCD’s Rafael Manzanero also reports a resurgence of illegal logging inside the Chiquibul.

 

Orlando Habet, Ministry of Sustainable Development

“Illegal loggers are smart, they know when to do their logging, whether it is early morning or late at night. We also usually have collaboration from the police department. We are trying to see if we can engage the Belize Defense Force especially if we find out that illegal logging is occurring within the national parks.”

 

Zenida Lanza

“Do you believe fines are a strong enough deterrent for illegal logging?”

 

Orlando Habet

“I think they are but its just that the current fines are not enough for them to desist. It is like many of our laws, they are old. At that time the numbers sounded like they were high. Maybe a five thousand fine was the same thing twenty, thirty years ago. So now it should be thirty, or forty or fifty, for them to desist. It is really putting a dent on forest growth and right now we are looking at not only the illegal logging.”

 

Rafael Manzanero, Executive Director, FCD

“I think illegal logging is really more subscribed to the western border. What I can tell you is that from 2010 to 2014 we loas o fifteen million dollars worth of timber in the Chiquibul jungles by Guatemalans.  They have reached up to seventeen kilometers in Belizean territory. That was steadily going down until two years ago. We are seeing a steady resurgence of illegal activity in terms of illegal logging right now.”

 

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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