Illegal Land Clearing Suspected in Vaca Reserve

Is there illegal land clearing happening inside the Vaca Forest Reserve? Farmers from the Cayo District reached out to News Five, raising the alarm about what they believe is unauthorized activity in the area. They claim heavy machinery has been brought in and they’re worried. So, what’s really going on? We reached out to Friends for Conservation and Development. Executive Director Rafael Manzanero confirmed they’ve recently received similar reports from farmers about suspicious clearing. He couldn’t say if it’s the same complaint, but here’s what happens next: those reports are now in the hands of the Forest Department, which will have to verify the claims through a site visit.

 

On the Phone: Rafael Manzanero, Executive Director, FCD

“I recall that there has been some notification provided about some deforestation in the Vaca Area. That is a couple of weeks ago. So what we would do is of course to refer the information to the regulatory agency, of course the Belize Forest department to do verify the situation. The information was that there was a concern that there could be level of deforestation within the forest reserve. The idea was to verify if it was either on private lands or within the protected area.”

 

Paul Lopez

“People would ask, why don’t the FCD send out people and verify.”

 

On the Phone: Rafael Manzanero

“Well because in reality, like what I said, it is the Belize Forest Department that would be able to relate directly on their maps and find the location. So I think that is the procedure normally used for these kinds of circumstances.”