On Tuesday night, we told you about the large quantity of rosewood that was exported from Belize to France.
The nearly 51 hundred board feet of wood was harvested through Indigenous Sustainable Forestry by a company owned by Conejo Creek, a buffer community in the Sarstoon Temash National Park.
Indigenous sustainable forestry is much preferred over the illegal logging that has plagued Southern Belize. And so, SATIIM is providing the community-based company with technical assistance to ensure that their enterprise succeeds. Earlier this week, the Executive Director told us via zoom that the proceeds of the sales are shared among the community members:
The community ownership of the company also allows for villagers to benefit from regular employment in the different aspects of the rosewood logging process. Martin Cus, SATIIM's Community Mobilizer, spoke with our colleagues from PG TV on that topic:
