Belize Calls for Support in Seaweed Struggle

The sargassum problem isn’t going away and Belize is feeling the pressure. Minister of Sustainable Development Orlando Habet says the country must secure financial support to tackle the growing crisis head-on. Speaking at Climate Week, Minister Habet pointed out that while some countries in the region are finding creative ways to repurpose the seaweed, no one has cracked the code on how to fully eliminate it from their shores. It’s a stubborn, smelly, and sometimes dangerous invader and Belize needs help to fight back.

 

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development

“So we have to find the assistance financial assistance. Some have to come from government, some from the local communities, the local municipalities, San Pedro, Placencia, and to see how we can get international funding. And that is why I mentioned the issue of loss and damage because that can, that can be not only immediate damage, but can be something that can be there for many years because it starts eroding the, the coast line. And so that is very important. But sargassum, nobody really has a real hand on on it, not  Mexico or the Dominican Republic. Everybody’s trying to do the best they can. We are trying to piggyback on some of the things that they are doing. I think there will be a meeting later this year in Europe to see how they can help. I think, Finland develop a small machinery that can do some of the processing, and they’re working together with the Dominican Republic. But these are pilot projects. You see what happened last week. There’s humongous mats, unprecedented, very difficult. But the work, the idea is to try to stop the sargassum from reaching the coast as much as possible. Once it reaches the coast, it’s already done the damage. It affects your fisheries, it affects the boats, the propellers of these boats. And then you have the problem of these huge mats coming to shore, which you have to pick up many times you pick it up, you picked up with sand. So, you have to let it dry a little and then try to see how you can sift the out to get the sand and throw away what remains.”