Belize's barrier reef system is a UNESCO world heritage site but one of the seven systems in that site is being reviewed for violations. The South water Caye Marine Reserve has witnessed some dredging and filling recently, which just can't be done at a World Heritage Site. So a team form UNESCO in Paris is in Belize to see just what is up with Pelican Caye. He's held public consultations and spoke to us today.
"What spurred this particular visit of UNESCO this week is what happened at Pelican Caye so there were some dredging and cutting down of mangroves and filling the mangrove forests with sand etc., corals that had been dredged, right inside the World Heritage Site. We heard about this in Paris where I work and everybody was dumbfounded about what was going on. Belize on one hand said we are going to protect this site for posterity sake for humanity, ten years ago they were telling us this, and now we're seeing they are dredging and filling mangrove ecosystems right in the middle of the sites. So there is a incoherence here and that is why we are here to look at today. I've had a chance to speak with a lot of people from the Belize government and there are a lot of smart people, dedicated and committed, and I think that what I see here happening is perhaps a slip-up, bad coordination, who knows what, but something happened. What I am seeing here is renewed commitment from the people I've been talking to, saying this is not going to happen again and they are going to try and fix the problem that were there that made this happen."
Jules Vasquez,
So what precisely is our status at this time? Is it under review, is it being closely watched, is it just an admonition?
"It is the first time that UNESCO sends people here to take a look at what's happening here since the site was inscribed ten years ago. So that is an indication already that that there is a red flag here and it is worth looking into. So the results of this mission will go to the World Heritage Committee, that is the group of countries that are elected to do the business of World Heritage every year.
There is the possibility that saying we'll put this site on the danger list, the world heritage danger list meaning the situation is getting out of hand here and let's see what we can do to male sure we get back, we regroup, and make sure we don't' lose control."
