WWF Kicks Off Mangrove-Friendly Development Competition

Belize is taking a stand to protect its invaluable mangrove ecosystems. Today, the World Wildlife Fund, based in Belize, officially launched the Mangrove Friendly Development Challenge 2025, a national competition that highlights how businesses, communities, and developers can build in harmony with these ecosystems rather than against them. Our newsroom spoke with WWF Mesoamerica’s Nadia Bood, who explained why this challenge was created and how it’s changing the way people think about mangroves.

 

Nadia Bood, Senior Program Officer, WWF Mesoamerica

“In Belize, over the years, we’ve seen an increased loss of mangroves for many reasons. But one of the main drivers have been development. People want to live along the coast, enjoy a nice marine environment, close proximity to the sea, the reef, and so forth. But with development and interest in living along the coast, we’ve been losing coverage of mangroves. And so we said that there must be something we could do to change the mindset of people because many people see mangroves as wasteland, as pests, harbors of pests. So we want to showcase the benefits of mangroves. A couple of years back, we said, let’s do something. Let’s create a contest where we can showcase, you know, those people who are doing the right thing because it’s possible to build greenly within mangroves. Fit your development within mangroves rather than clear cut into the shoreline.”