And moving now to environmental news, we've previously reported on a partnership between Royal Caribbean and World Wildlife Fund. And we also raised the question whether capitalists and conservationists can co-exist, especially when Royal Caribbean has also partnered with Portico - the proposed cruise port that threatens to destroy hundreds of acres of mangroves.
Today, we asked the country's local WWF representative Nadia Bood - who has been a steadfast protector of mangroves - whether they are inevitably linked to Portico through their collaboration with Royal Caribbean, and whether they support the destruction of mangroves that will accompany it.
Nadia Bood, WWF Belize
"We've already address this in our statement that we sent out. So I don't have anything to add to that, but I will say that from the perspective of World Wildlife Fund, we do not condone any project that will lead to large -scale impact on mangroves."
"We also have not endorsed any cruise port in Belize, including Port Magical."
Reporter
"And so the ad that was purporting to indicate as much, what happened there?"
Nadia Bood, WWF Belize
"Yes, so that is you'll have to go to the leader of the opposition, because I don't know what's their ground for attacking us, you know, but we, as an organization, we are an NGO. We focus on the environment and promoting the country in addressing threats and vulnerabilities. We are not involved in a consultancy, and we also do not want to get caught up in a hidden agenda of the political partners or business interest groups. As I said before, we are looking at nature-based solutions. We are mapping the risk on vulnerability across Belize's coastal zone. We are looking at how the natural ecosystems, be it coral base and mangroves, are helping to buffer Belize in terms of climate threats, stabilization of the coast, and also so that these ecosystems can continue to provide Belize and the people, the local communities with the services that they are currently providing, through tourism, through fisheries, because a lot of local communities and stakeholders livelihoods, are tied to these natural ecosystems, are tied to the natural environment, and that's our focus."
Reporter
"Don't you feel like you'll inevitably be linked to Portico considering that you are partnered with Royal Caribbean and they are partnered with Portico?"
Nadia Bood, WWF Belize
"That is an, I can't, I won't speak to that, that is an international partnership with World Wildlife Fund and Royal Caribbean around, you know, on board, you know, sustainable practices. But I won't be speaking to that because we already came out and said we are not involved. We haven't endorsed project."
Reporter
"How much mangroves, more or less, do you estimate would be destroyed in a project like this? Independent experts using in Emil Cherrington's..."
Nadia Bood, WWF Belize
"We know that it could result in devastating impact on mangroves within the region. So it will lead to, you know, impact, you know, significant loss of mangrove coverage. And that's of course a concern for us because we are working to try and protect mangroves for the benefit of Belize and Belizeans."
Reporter
"But do you believe it in numbers of 400 acres because the other developers say 20 acres?"
Nadia Bood, WWF Belize
"It's forecasted around, you know, almost, you know, 1000 acres, you know, yeah, but so it is a concern."
We note that Portico developer David Gegg says the project will destroy only 20 acres of mangrove, and that the mangrove imprint will be minimal.
