Conservation Action Plan continues at Nazareth Retreat

The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) together with the Ya’axche Conservation Trust (YCT) continued working on the Conservation Action Plan (CAP) with stakeholders who work in the area known as the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor (MMMC).

Yellow headed parrot identified as conservation target

The CAP will be designed for monitoring and evaluating the projects carried out by TIDE and YCT within the watersheds in the Marine Corridor and uses methodology which incorporates community concerns and environmental concerns for the protected areas in which the organizations work together.

A workshop facilitated by international consultants from The Nature Conservancy Ohio Chapter, Andy Dickerson and George Schuler guided the two days of activities in which the participants were to identify conservation targets and to analyze the scope and severity of the possible threats to these targets within the watersheds of the Marine Corridor.  Osmany Salas and Jan Merman, Belizean consultants, also assisted in the CAP by guiding the working groups to identify the targets and threats.

The deliverable which came out of the workshop was the completion of the first section on

the workbook which highlights the contributions of the participants and information from the stakeholders towards the management of the protected areas within the MMMC.

According to TIDE Executive Director, Celia Mahung, TIDE and YCT together with Flora and Fauna International working in Belize are currently collaborating efforts on the management of the Golden Stream Watershed in the Toledo District and the CAP will provide them with a model which can be used to monitor and evaluate projects in the entire MMMC.

Discussion among Schuler - TNC Ohio, YCT Bio- diversity coordinator, timber concessionaire owner and TNC Belize.	Mahung (left) helps identify key ecological attributes for conservation targets