Probably the least reported on – but most important issue in Belize is the environment.
It’s easy to talk about breeze and seas and trees, but with developers pushing the envelope of environmental degradation and mother nature pushing back, it’s no small claim that environmental reporting may be the most neglected area in the media.
And that’s why the Belize Environmental reporters Network has been formed, and this weekend through the assistance of local conservation organizations, experts on environmental reporting have been brought in from the United States.
As they headed out of the city for three days of training – we found out what the weekend is all about:…
Keith swift, Reporting
Over a dozen journalists from media houses across Belize gathered at the dumpsite outside Belize city this morning.
But they weren’t there to ask questions; they were there to listen and learn – not about landfills – but about what questions need to be asked about those landfills.
Dale Roman, Workshop Facilitator
“Journalists don’t need to know all the answers; they need to know how to ask the right questions.”
Dale Roman and Bob Thomas will help facilitate a workshop on environmental reporting for journalists.
Dr. Bob Thomas Workshop Facilitator
“We have gathered a group of journalists together who like to specialize in the environment and we’re gonna have a workshop where we talk primarily about journalism skills, about new tools in journalism that can help the communication of information through various media houses.”
Dale Roman, Workshop Facilitator
“But the training is immense because journalists by nature have to cover so many topics that it’s very difficult to know a lot about any particular topic. But environmental issues are so complex and they’re os many layers to them that without that level of training that we’re hoping to provide here, it’s very difficult to do these in a way that makes them contextual, that makes them understandable enough to enough people that they can begin to know what’s happening in the world around them, begin to know what’s happening in the environment.“
The training sessions will be held all weekend – and most of it at the Chaa Creek Lodge. But on the way, this was a convenient and instructive site visit.
Dale Roman, Workshop Facilitator
“We’re looking at this dump here when you think about how many stories there are just involving this dump whether it be the toxic waste that might be here, the hazardous waste from hospitals that have been dumped here, the household waste that could create problems for people, the needles, the knives, the things that might have been thrown in there. There are so many issues, that without any sort of training, it’s difficult to understand how to address them."
Dr. Bob Thomas Workshop Facilitator
“What we really have to accomplish is to give Belize’s journalists better tools to go out and cover these very complex issues, that are affecting the environment. You know, we are standing here at this dump right now and I’m sure that most people understand that this is not something they want in their neighborhood.”
Key areas of discussion at the workshop will be oil and the environment and the runoff of agricultural pesticides into waterways.
