Last night we told you about the issue at the sprawling Maya Ranch in the Cayo District - where squatting, illegal logging and gunplay have made for a volatile mix.
It has also brought into focus the larger issue of Illegal logging - which is penetrating Belize's forested areas. Jaleeza Roberts looks at the issues and misconceptions around the growing problem.
Illegal logging it's a chronic and persistent problem for law enforcement and property owners.
According to the Forestry Department, illegal logging continues to demand significant time and resources, with officers responding to reports across the country, and clamping down on these overtime criminals has been a task.
Jaleeza Roberts:
"How hard has it been for you guys to clamp down on this illegal logging situation countrywide?"
John Pinelo, Deputy Chief Forest Officer
"It has taken a lot of energy and time, a lot of time from my guys. In fact, the 24th of December night, we were out following a report of illegal logging. The 31st of December we were out dealing with illegal logging issues. So what has happened is traditionally people think that because there's a long holiday we won't be working. That has changed, with the support of the Transport Department and the Police Department. We now have eyes out there even if it is not the Forest Department that is out there. We are also out there and we have a hotline now, the 610-1524 number that people have been using a lot which helps us because it's WhatsApp so you don't need to have credit on your phone to call us. You can send us pictures, location, voice messages. It is safe, it is secure. We don't let anybody know who is sending us that information. In fact, there's only one person that receives that message.And they're the person who deals with enforcement. So anybody that has or thinks there's an illegal activity going on, and it doesn't have to be with Lumber."
All eyes, but many times not even that is enough because illegal logging happens deep in the interior - by a large cast of local and regional bad actors:
John Pinelo, Deputy Chief Forest Officer
"That myth about people who are not Belizeans doing more logging than others is a lie. Everybody from all walks of Belizean life have been caught doing illegal logging. And I am saying all the way up north to all the way down south in the communities, Creole, Mennonite, immigrants, everybody. It's not a cultural thing, everybody seems to think that they have a right to cut a tree down without having to come to the department. So we've seen it. It's not a one group of people doing it. The group of people are the illegal Loggers, and that includes everybody."
That's a lot for the Forestry Department to contend with - and that's why they are asking the public to help safeguard this finite resource:
John Pinelo, Deputy Chief Forest Officer
"We are also out there and we have a hotline now, the 610-1524 number that people have been using a lot which helps us because it's WhatsApp so you don't need to have credit on your phone to call us. You can send us pictures, location, voice messages. It is safe, it is secure. We don't let anybody know who is sending us that information. In fact, there's only one person that receives that message.And they're the person who deals with enforcement. So anybody that has or thinks there's an illegal activity going on, and it doesn't have to be with Lumber."
Jaleeza Roberts, 7 News.
In addition to illegal logging, commonly misunderstood forestry infractions include non-timber forest products like illegally cutting pimiento, bay leaf, bush sticks, clearing mangroves, or a forest officer asking for a bribe.
