Last night, we took you to the Belize City Headquarters of the Belize Coast Guard. That's where the organization's membership and leadership celebrated their 16th anniversary of service to the country as the primary custodians of the nation's territorial sea spaces.
During yesterday's conversation with the newly-promoted Admiral Elton Bennett, the media was asking about the organization's growth and development in the short to medium terms. That's when the topic of the Blue Bond for Ocean Conservation came up.
As viewers are aware, that's the sovereign debt restructuring achieved by the Government of Belize - and depending on who you ask, both the People's United Party and the United Democratic Party are claiming all the credit for that debt relief. Under this new agreement with The Nature Conservancy and its creditors, Belize's Superbond balance of 553 million US dollars - which was due in 2034 - was replaced by a 364 million-US-Dollar Blue Bond, which was financed by Credit Suisse Group AG. Using the proceeds of that bond, the Superbond was settled with the nation's international creditors through a buyback at a discount of 45%. And now, Belize will repay TNC over the course of 19 years, which will make payments toward the debt incurred from Credit Suisse.
In exchange for this marine debt for conservation swap, Belize has agreed to a long list of conservation commitments that are aimed at increasing the country's marine protected areas. Using conservation best practices, the total area under protection will increase from a little under 16%, to 30%. There is even the early consideration for the deep-sea areas that go all the way out to Belize's Exclusive Economic Zone.
And, the lawmen who will be out enforcing the regulations against illegal fishing behavior that's incompatible with the Blue model will be the members of the Belize Coast guard. Yesterday, we asked the Commandant about that enormous task:
Rear Admiral Elton Bennett - Commandant, Belize Coast Guard
"As you heard us discussed today, the acquisition of those 2 patrol boats is becoming even more and more important in regards to providing the necessary service to the country, in terms of managing our blue spaces. We're moving forward with the Blue Bond initiative, and the Coast Guard needs to be able to enforce whatever legislation is put in place."
"So, we are, again, having more and more discussions at the ministry along with CABEI, in order to get that program going."
Reporter
"Explain to us what role the Coast Guard will play in putting the Blue Bond into practice, as well as that Marine Spatial Plan."
Rear Admiral Elton Bennett
"It's all about enforcement. You can legislate as much as you want. You can apply conservation regulations to our different sea spaces, but if you cannot enforce them. If you cannot have physical patrolling efforts out there, then it is all for naught. So, that's exactly where the Belize Coast Guard will fit in, to be able to provide the necessary patrolling efforts that the Blue Bond initiative will mandate the Government of Belize to do. We're currently, configured, uniquely across. We're embedded along with those NGOs that are chartered to protect Belizean marine parks, and that will continue. That will expand. Just to give you an idea, we're currently supporting 8 different marine NGOs across the nation."
Reporter
"Experienced members of the Coast Guard have explained to us that the country's sea spaces are vast. How do you keep all that area under watch?"
Rear Admiral Elton Bennett
"Certainly a challenge, We're looking at 14 thousand square miles of sea spaces that would be under some form of protection that we would need to get out and enforce. And so, it's on us to reconfigure or re-structure our forces, using intelligence analysis, to ensure that we're at the right place, doing the right things. That's very important for us, to be able to maneuver around and be able to apply our forces in the right area that is required. So, it's a huge area to cover, but even though it's a challenge, we see an opportunity for us, and an opportunity for Coast Guard growth."
