The government has implemented a six month moratorium on mining and dredging activities in the Placencia Lagoon and Ambergris Caye. Today we spoke with the Manatee Man, Jamal Galvez, who explained that the lagoon in particular has taken hit after hit and desperately needs this time to recover. He added that the effects of the dredging on the environment can be seen in the blood samples of the manatees in the area.
Jamal Galvez, Program Coordinator, Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute Belize
"The moratorium is significant, it's way more than people may see it to be but that Placencia Lagoon is a very important habitat, not just for manatees but crocodiles, sport fishing, birds, all different species, but it has been beaten and has had any break at all so this moratorium I believe it's going to give it the much needed break for it to start that recovery process, it's not going to happen in one months, it's not going to happen in two months, so I hope that the government holds for it, put measures in place to put that moratorium in place and it's not just a moratorium on paper, it's actionable, it's enforceable."
"Everybody in that community, if you're in a boat, if you live near the lagoon, you're the observer, you're the police of that area and when you see something, you have to say something, report it, document it so that the media can cover it so that we hold these individuals accountable because in the end, only us in Belize are going to lose. Placencia beach has already been devastated by sargassum and now we're having this problem in the lagoon system, we're running down that important tourism destination so we want to safeguard that jewel and this I believe is going to help significantly."
"When you drive that lagoon and you see those heavy equipment literally taking down our resources, it hurts, it's significant. I've been working in the Placencia Lagoon for 20 years and I've literally seen the decline and it's gotten to the point where it's almost there so I think the moratorium is timely, it's going to take time but for me, having that in place is important for our conservation efforts because we've worked there for 20 years we've seen the declines in manatees health, we've taken blood samples from manatees and I can tell you 20 years ago to now is a significant difference."
