When BDF Sgt. Ramon Aguilar was lost inside the Chiquibul Reserve, the first and most persistent worry was that he had been abducted by Xateros. They are armed Guatemalan outlaws, who illegally harvest the exotic leaf in Belize and sell it on their country's export market. So why can't Belizeans do it? Well, when we traveled to Chiquibul last week, we found out that there is a plan to harvest it locally. Here's more, from inside Chiquibul.
Jules Vasquez Reporting,
These are Xate leaves - these ones have been tagged and their growth monitored to come up with a management plan to harvest it sustainably. That means preserving these seeds found in the male Xate plant. Lenny Gentle is a naturalist for Friends of Conservation.
Lenny Gentle,
"Now we have a Belizean contractor who is bringing Belizean Xateros and this is a good way people could get benefit from the forests. So I want the participants to see how shortly it could be managed properly. We can't generate income from that."
And while Xate is an industry, Chiquibul is a marvel. And its best appreciated from this watchtower. Perched atop a hill and hoisted another 40 feet in the air, it provides a majestic view of the Chiquibul, the vast and verdant expanse of green, stretching all the way, it seems, to the horizon, or if not at least to the Victoria Peak. And from the greatest of heights to subterranean depths, in caves that may once have been used by the Mayas - Chiquibul is a world of wonder - making it clear that this entire place - is one of nature's long term experiments.
