The Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve is a bustling ecosystem that provides lumber, water, jobs, and more to neighboring communities, as well as being an attraction for local and international tourists. And the only reason MPR can give so much is because those who rely on it, ensure that they utilize it sustainably.
And the Forestry Department is the overseer, but they do work in collaboration with the resorts, recreational facilities, logging companies, and nearby residents who use the reserve. And today, they invited those stakeholders as well as village councils from Cristo Rey, San Antonio, and 7 Miles, along with some standard six students, to sensitize them on the goods and services that MPR provides.
The officer in charge of the Douglas D'Silva Forest Station told us more.
Shanelly Carrillo Balan, Officer in Charge, Douglas D'Silva Forest Station
"Here in the Mountain Pine Ridge, we receive a lot of benefits, for example, as you mentioned, tourism. Tourism is a very important part of what happens here in this reserve, this is one of the reserves that has a very high visitation rate from tourists, and that plays a very important role in the amount of people that it hires in the area from the nearby communities, for example. Also when it comes to the logging, we need lumber to build our houses, to build our furniture, for school chairs, the lumber comes from our forests, not specifically here, here we see pine, but it comes from our forests so it is very important, but also, for example, the water. Did you know that the San Antonio community receives its water supply from the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve? So these are the very important benefits that we're receiving from the area and we want the stakeholders, the buffer communities, to start appreciating them a little bit more."
"The students that we brought out here are one class from the San Antonio community, which is the community that receives its water resources from here. For example, this class, it's a standard six class, it's at a level that we believe they will understand more about the benefits and hopefully spread the news, the information in their communities with their families. We need to start involving schools a little bit more, just to make sure all Belizeans understand these benefits."
We will delve further in the cultural and commercial uses, and the preservation of the pine forest in tomorrow's news.
