31.1 C
Belize City
Thursday, March 28, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Photo: Students and staff of Stella Maris...

BPD awards 3 officers with Women Police of the Year

Photo: (l-r) Myrna Pena, Carmella Cacho, and...

Suicide on the rise!

Photo: Iveth Quintanilla, Mental Health Coordinator by Charles...

Guatemalan xatéros and loggers rape Columbia River Forest Reserve

GeneralGuatemalan xatéros and loggers rape Columbia River Forest Reserve
The Ya’axche’ Conservation Trust, a community-oriented NGO in southern Belize, has forwarded to Amandala the report of a multi-agency patrol conducted in May in the Colombia River Forest Reserve, which, we believe, is of national importance.
 
Guatemalan xatéros and illegal loggers, for many decades, through successive Belizean political administrations, have largely had a free hand in decimating our forests and looting our national heritage near the border between Belize and Guatemala.
 
Today, police told us that in the reserve on Friday, May 23, 2008, they discovered three Guatemalan men, Concepcion Mendez Ramirez, 25, and brothers Isidora, 38, and Carlos Gomez, 28, with 50 bundles of xaté leaves. The men were charged with unlawful possession of forest produce and appeared in Punta Gorda Magistrate’s Court, in front of Magistrate Roberto Ordonez.
 
They all pleaded guilty to the offence and were fined $500 each. They were unable to pay and are currently serving 6 months in jail.
 
The following report is unedited.
 
Columbia River Forest Reserve Multi- agency Patrol
Patrol Report – Draft
19th – 24th May 2008
  
Summary
 
A multi-agency patrol with 16 members from the Belize Defence Force, Forest Department, Police Department, Friends of Conservation and Development, Bladen Nature Reserve and the Ya’axché Conservation Trust was conducted in the northwestern section of the Columbia River Forest Reserve between May 19 – 24.
 
In total, the patrol covered more than 100 miles during the six-day period, documenting illegal activity within the area such as over $100,000 worth of mahogany extracted, arresting three xatéros, capturing three horses and a mule that had illegally entered into Belize, and confiscating thousands of xaté leaves and destroying several xatéro camps.
 
Patrol description
 
The patrol’s primary focus was on recording illegal activities occurring within the Columbia River Forest Reserve. Although the plan originally was to cover a large circular area, factors on the ground, such as an injury, forced the plan to change, and the patrol covered a smaller area more intensively. The patrol therefore travelled from Fairweather camp early in the morning of Monday, May 19, 2008 to Edward Central.
 
From there, the patrol set out reaching Union Camp by midday and Nazario Perez in the evening. Tuesday was spent largely documenting illegal mahogany extraction near Nazario Perez, and the patrol was forced to retreat to Union Camp for a helicopter lift because of a serious injury to a BDF soldier. 
 
On Wednesday, the patrol headed to Burgos camp, on Thursday to Nazario Perez, and returned on Friday to Edward Central. Reconnaissance patrols were conducted at several points during the patrol, whilst an ambush patrol was conducted on Friday, May 24, during the latter of which three xatéros were caught. 
 
Illegal activities observed
 
The most striking observation of the patrol was the sheer level of activity within the area, as demonstrated by the hundreds of trails that crisscross the Reserve, primarily travelling eastwards from the border.
 
Xatéros appear to account for most incursions, with at least 6 xatéro camps being located by the patrol (often with discarded xaté leaves nearby) of various sizes. To further prove the point, the five xatéros detained by the patrol (carrying approximately 6,300 leaves between them), separately confirmed that there were at least 40 more xatéros operating within the western part of the Bladen Nature Reserve. [The first xatéros found was warned and released. One other escaped. Three were jailed.]
 
Indeed, the three xatéros arrested were crossing through Columbia River Forest Reserve, bringing leaves back from Bladen.
 
However, xaté is by no means the only thing being extracted illegally. At least thirty instances of illegal mahogany extraction were documented by the patrol, particularly in the area around Nazario Perez, totaling 4,125.5 ft3 (25,784.4 bd ft).
 
If this had been harvested legally, then this would have equaled $103,137.60 (at average market rate of $4 per board foot) with $5,115.62 being paid in royalties. Furthermore, many undersized trees were cut – for example, one tree from which only 10.6 ft3 or 6 pieces of board could have been harvested, having serious repercussions for regeneration and future resource use in the area.
 
Similarly, the remnants of a Mayan pot found at a xatéro camp demonstrates that, as has been seen in the Chiquibul, the cultural heritage of Belize is being slowly dug up and exported. It will never be known what else has already been removed by the highly active Guatemalans from the Southern Maya Mountains, as the area’s archaeological significance has been explored only on the outskirts.
 
The high level of illegal human activity in the area appears to be having a devastating impact on the local populations of wildlife. All of the patrol members agreed that almost no wildlife was seen in the area, compared to what should have been very high levels. This observation is supported by sightings of shotgun cartridges, the carrying of a slingshot by one of the xatéros, remains of birds and kinkajous (nightwalker) that had been killed and eaten in the area.  
 
One of the main problems is that during the dry season, water points are essential to both wildlife and xateros in the area. This is likely to have made it easy for the xatéros to decimate populations of birds and mammals.
 
Next steps
 
Clearly, due to the extremely high social, economic and environmental impact that the xatéros are having, immediate and effective action needs to be taken to safeguard the priceless natural and cultural resources of the Columbia River Forest Reserve and Bladen Nature Reserve from being exhausted. Patrols are currently conducted once per month in the area, which is a good start, but which needs to be stepped up to at least 3 per month.
 
Moreover, it should be noted that the area is an emerging area of importance for tourism, with packages recently being developed for the Maya Divide Trail and to climb Doyle’s Delight, both of which pass through the area that was patrolled. It is likely that, as with the route to Caracol, ruthless Guatemalans may take the opportunity to attack and rob “soft target” tourists.
 
The tourism industry must therefore be alerted to this issue and supported to ensure the safety of the tourists that are vital to Belize’s development.
 
Lessons learnt and recommendations
 
Multiagency patrols have both benefits and drawbacks. For example, the patrol can benefit from the presence of a larger number of people without draining resources from one organization.
 
However, in this case, this creates a disadvantage in the form of a large number of unarmed civilians who have to be protected by the Belize Defence Force (BDF). The patrol members agreed that civilian members of the patrol with side-arms had an advantage, and did not need protection by BDF, thereby reducing the demands on the soldiers. It is therefore recommended (where possible) that all patrol members are armed to maximize the effectiveness of the patrol.
 
It is important to note that the primary purpose of the current patrol was to gather intelligence on illegal activity in the Reserve, and therefore, large amounts of walking were done. However, it should be noted that patrols often make a lot of noise whilst walking, making it easy for xatéros to avoid them.
 
Ambushing was demonstrated to be an effective method for catching them, and requires little effort on behalf of the patrol, especially where patrol members can travel lightly to suitable sites. However, to accomplish this, the patrol members agreed it would be highly advantageous to construct an observation post from which day patrols could be conducted.
 
Nazario Perez would be a good location for this due to its location, in the middle of a very active area.
 
Another important point to note is that incursions take place throughout the year, not even stopping during the peak of the wet season between June and August.
 
On the other hand, patrols are much more difficult to conduct in the wet season when the bridges along the road to Nazario Perez wash out. This means that patrols have to walk for at least 8 hours from Nazario Perez to the road at San Jose alone.
 
Therefore, in order to allow patrols to be conducted year round, it is recommended that an all-weather road be put in to connect Nazario Perez to the road.
 
A good point to remember is that under no circumstances should xatéros be underestimated. While walking to the extraction point and even whilst under armed guard, one xatéro managed to escape by disappearing into the forest incredibly fast.
 
It is also believed that the xatéros were observing the patrol, particularly at the last camp site. One hour after the patrol team had left Nazario Perez on the 23rd, the nearby Helicopter Landing Site had been set on fire, probably as a demonstration of anger at the patrol’s presence.
 
(The Ya’axche’ Conservation Trust is a community-oriented NGO in southern Belize which implements and advances participatory conservation and sustainable use of natural resources for equitable regional development.
 
YCT accomplishes this through exemplary protected area management, proactive stakeholder collaboration, educational outreach, and strategic advocacy and by supporting innovative socially and economically viable enterprise. Our hope is that you will continue to assist protected areas managers in creating awareness about the urgent need to protect our natural resources from Guatemalan encroachment. )
 
Address: Ya’axché Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 177, Joe Taylor Creek, Punta Gorda, Toledo District, Belize. Tel/Fax: (+501) 722 0108.
 
For further information, please contact Nicholas Wick, Integrated Landscape Programme Manager, email [email protected], Telephone: 722-0055.
 
Ed. NOTE: The multi-agency report, we believe, cries for national and political attention. The Guatemalan predators appear to believe that they can harvest Belize’s bounty with impunity. We, the Belizean people, believe otherwise. It is time to put an end to this nonsense, we think.

Check out our other content

World Down Syndrome Day

Suicide on the rise!

Check out other tags:

International