Mangrove forests, they were once dismissed as swampy wastelands that both attracted mosquitoes and blocked out coveted sea views, but more recently planners, scientists, and coastal dwellers have come to value them as the remarkably diverse and complex ecosystems that they are.
Today we know that Mangroves along with seagrass beds and coral reefs work in tandem to keep coastal ones healthy.
But while that vital revisionism was taking place, Belize City's foreshore was losing all of its mangrove forests to development. That is until today when a group of volunteers working with the ministry of Blue Economy celebrated Earth Day by re-planting a future mangrove forest. I was there watching them work and here's what I found out about these keystones of the coastal ecosystem.
Earth Day started off in fine form this morning as the Ministry of the Blue economy and its community and private sector partners gathered to plant mangroves on the foreshore of Buttonwood Bay.
And among the crowd of volunteers, we met up with Blue economy CEO Kennedy Carillo who told us that ministry's participation is symbolic of the policies that will need to be put in place if these conservation efforts are to work.
She also explained why this mangrove project in this location is a little bit special.
Kennedy Carillo, CEO, Ministry of the Blue Economy
"For us today it's very important, this park is very important, when we moved into our offices we had this beautiful park but it had been abandoned and we decided that we would use it as a microcosm of what Blue economy and Civil aviation represent so as you can see the theme of blue economy and the theme of civil aviation on the other side."
"So, for us to be able to have these mangroves i think it's the best example of our dedication to the importance of really preserving these mangroves and getting the message out there that we need to stop destroying them. When we speak about wealth untold we look at the Blue bonds and how much the blue bonds have saved our country in debt and what it is bringing to conservation it's because of these things that we can show the world that we can take care of our mangroves so that globally everyone else can continue to breathe and continue to really have the kind of livelihoods that they deserve."
And these plants contribute to more than just livelihood for many they can be a measure of security as well. And that perhaps is one of the reasons we found insurance man, Andrew Roe getting down in the dirt to bring mangroves back to a neighbourhood that reached out to support the initiative.
Andrew Roe, General Manager, RF&G Insurance
"Apart from the social side of it obviously insurance requires or depends on a healthy ecosystem to make sure that we don't have increased numbers of storms, hurricanes and increased severity. So, one of the things that RF&G has recently taken up is working with Caye Caulker strong and Ally from Caye Caulker to reforest mangrove forests that have been segregated because of maybe either storm destroying the mangroves or sometimes deforestation and it's been, so far it's mostly been in Caye Caulker and when the opportunity came actually through the residents of buttonwood bay to try and do some work on the park we said hey maybe this is an opportunity to bring Caye Caulker strong's idea of re-foresting mangroves in the city and so we worked with the Ministry of the Blue Economy and Civil aviation, the World Wildlife Fund and the residents as well as Caye Caulker strong to get this project going and its been a few months so it's really. It's really nice to see that it's coming to fruition and we really look forward to seeing how these mangroves develop and grow into something that really beautifies the park as well as has all the positive benefits of what mangroves do for our ecosystem."
And it's that positivity that got the support of Belize's best known environmental ambassador, Miss Earth 2022 Destiny Wagner.
Ever the advocate for all things sustainable she joined this morning's group of volunteers to get the message out about the importance of re-planting mangroves on Belize's shores.
Destiny Wagner, Miss Earth
"As miss earth I am an ambassador of our planet so I am very fortunate to be in Belize on earth day, my home country and it's very important that we start planting trees because at the end of the day they contribute to our livelihood and they also protect us from natural disasters so being here today is definitely a blessing and i'm happy that the community is involved as well as some of our ministers."
"When carbon is in the air a lot of our trees not just mangroves, a lot of our trees in general absorb that so that it's not in the air and it lowers our carbon footprint and purifies our air altogether and purifies our air so at the end of the day whether you want to plant a mangrove or plant a mahogany tree, trees are very beneficial to our environment."
Cherisse Halsall:
"How did you get involved in this specific initiative."
Destiny Wagner, Miss Earth
"I am an ambassador for the ministry of the Blue economy so every time they have these events I really want to be there and use my platform to raise, to bring more awareness of it and influence and inspire the youth to get involved as well."
Cherisse Halsall:
"What has it been like planting these trees this morning, is it difficult?"
Destiny Wagner, Miss Earth
"It's definitely not difficult, you just have to be prepared to get your hands dirty but it's for a good cause so that's all that matters."
And at the end of the activity, the volunteers agreed taking care of the environment is everybody's business not just on Earth Day but every day.
All they can ask now is that the residents of buttonwood bay who frequent the park take care of this mangrove nursery.
After all, a regrown mangrove forest could help, not only in improving the neighbourhood's air quality but also in staving off the harsher effects of future storms.
