Earlier this week, we told you about the trenching of a canal right through a wildlife sanctuary in Central Belize. Specifically it is the Labouring Creek Jaguar Corridor Wildlife Sanctuary which was set aside in mid 2010.
Running along the banks of the Belize River the sanctuary is an important forest link for wildlife, including the jaguar. Now, Land on the west side of the Sanctuary has been privately purchased for sugarcane production. An Environmental Impact Assessment has been submitted to the Department of the Environment. But, the EIA has not yet gone to public consultation, nor has it been approved by the National Environmental Appraisal Committee.
Nonetheless, a drainage canal fifty metres wide and almost two miles long has been trenched out through the middle of the Sanctuary. Conservationists from the Environmental Research Institute at the University of Belize and its international partner, Panthera issued a statement today to say the canal will disrupt the movement of most of the 22 species of large- to medium-sized mammals known to occupy the region, and will damage the functioning of the corridor.
