B.D.F. Tackles Illegal Activities in the Columbia River Forest Reserve

The Columbia Forest Reserve, one of the largest protected rainforests in Central America, is under threat. Conservationists say illegal activity in the area is on the rise, and what they’ve uncovered is alarming. According to the Ya’axché Conservation Trust, patrols recently found evidence of large-scale commercial logging, Mahogany, Sapodilla, and other valuable species being harvested illegally. And that’s not all, over one hundred acres of land have been cleared for cattle ranching and crops. A ten-day enforcement operation led by the Belize Defense Force also revealed a six-kilometer road, complete with wooden bridges, built to move timber across the border. Tonight, BDF Commander Brigadier General Azariel Loria talks about the challenges of protecting Belize’s borders and what’s being done to stop this environmental crime.

 

Brigadier General Azariel Loria, Commander, B.D.F.

“In the past, we had a problems in the Chiquibul. The Chiquibul is under control but Chiquibull, the Columbia Forest Reserve, they’re very remote areas and we need more presence, of course, we need presence. It’s an area where the where we would need more presence from government be it the forest whichever. At the Chiquibul.  have the friends for conservation that are assisting in such endeavors and operation. We in the south, because we have been having a lot of concerns with the transnational drug trade, we have not been able to focus, despite the fact that that we are responsible for the territorial integrity of Belize, we have to pay a degree of attention to the environment. And the Guatemala, they continue to venture across into Belize and conduct illegal logging. But we have conducted two major operations, one in March and one that happened last month. And we have discovered what you have seen on tv and we will continue to conduct more operations in that area, in the coming days. And we have proposed, number of activities that we intend to do to the Ministry of National Defense on border of security. And one of them is to increase our presence. And not temporary presence, but more continued long-term presence in that area. “