For the past four days, wildfires have been raging within the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve. Not only have these fires destroyed hundreds of acres of forest, but they are also currently threatening infrastructure and lives in the reserve.
But with fires across the country, resources are spread thin, and the team of about 20 are faced with falling trees, smoke inhalation, intense heat, and dehydration on top of the flames.
But they must preserve the forest and so they remain on the frontlines of the fire. Today we went into the reserve to learn about their fight, and Country Menzies has this story.
A manmade fire is currently devouring the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve - burning even parts of the forest that have never been ignited before.
While some wildfires are spontaneous, this one was a direct result of farmers ignoring safety procedures and setting agricultural fires:
Aaron Juan, Executive Director, Belize KARST Habitat Conservation
"A lot of these small farmers, their system is to slash and burn as we know here in Belize that's what most people do. Some of them do it responsibly, and they'll do their fire breaks and they'll manage it. The problem happens when they light the fires and it gets out of control and they cannot handle it and because they're right next to the reserve, the fire goes up and when it touches the canopy, then it spreads right over our boundary lines."
"I actually saw for the first time an entire mountain burnt in 15 minutes, it was so fast and that's what we're dealing with, it's been so dry, there's so much fuel on the floor and so once it lights up it's gone in a matter of minutes, we saw animals burning, birds on fire, it was really heartbreaking."
And right now it's all hands on deck for the team that works in shifts within the reserve. Government agencies have assisted with bulldozers and even a helicopter - but that same helicopter is being used in San Antonio, Cayo and the Toledo District - so while it was a big help on day one, without it, the fight only gets tougher.
Lance Walker, Co-Owner, Jade Jungle Resort
"We were able to get it pretty well contained that day but then without the resources, it jumped out fire line and has continued to spread so we're fighting it the best way we can which is man power and backpacks but it's not the same as having machinery so at this point it's hard to tell how well contained it is because we don't have air support. I tried flying my little drone to see where the fire was spreading but it's hard to tell. Once you get deep int he jungle, it's dense jungle, it's easy to get turned around, it's hard to tell which direction the fire is headed and we don't have good communication outside of the reserve once we're in there so it's really hard to get the resources we need and the information that we need."
And for the Walkers, they need to get the fire contained quick, before it comes any closer to their resort and its 24 guests.
Lance Walker, Co-Owner, Jade Jungle Resort
"It's come within about 2/3 or maybe half a mile away from our resort and so we've been out here just giving it all we can, the support, the guys from Belize Karst and contain it as much as we can."
Chrissy Walker, Co-Owner, Jade Jungle Resort
"We're very susceptible to this fire, there's really nothing stopping it from coming over, everything is thatch. Our best chance is to stop it here in the reserve and that's why we've been helping as much as we can to get this contained."
And the plan is to connect the fire line near their resort to a new one, so that the fire is trapped within, sacrificing the trees in the middle.
But while they have help from nearby residents and resorts, one of the obstacles they've run into is the very same farmers who caused the problem.
Aaron Juan, Executive Director, Belize KARST Habitat Conservation
"Interestingly enough, the same farmers that are lighting these farmers don't want to help us fight the fire, in fact it got so bad that they were complaining that we were taking water from their ponds. They didn't even want to give us water for the helicopter to pull water out."
"Just talking to them, they don't feel responsible, they say they need to burn their farm, it's our job to take care of our reserve. But keep in mind this is a handful of farmers, people from the nearby communities are helping us but the farmers themselves that are bordering the line, they're not helping much."
And Juan says a stop order for the entire country should have been issued a month ago.
Aaron Juan, Executive Director, Belize KARST Habitat Conservation
"We have been asking for a stop order from the Ministry of Agriculture through a group chat for APAMO, I've been personally asking through that group chat for us to try to get a stop order from the Ministry of Agriculture, I haven't seen it yet so that didn't come through, but what we did is we went and created flyers a month ago and we actually met with a lot of these farmers and asked them not to burn, it's just not a time to burn here in Belize right now, our country is burning, It's too hot, too dry, so we ask them not to burn, but they still did so they didn't listen to our recommendation."
And now these farmers have put a lot of people at risk, and have caused massive damage to the nature reserve.
But while things seem dire, Juan is planning to research the rejuvenation of the forest.
Aaron Juan, Executive Director, Belize KARST Habitat Conservation
"We're gonna hope to make the best out of the worst and so we will be monitoring how the forest comes back, what are the first species and the first birds and animals to come back and try to get some kind of scientific paper research on that in the rejuvenation of the forest."
