Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE)

The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) was founded in 1997 to meet the growing environmental and development needs of the Toledo District, the southernmost district of Belize. TIDE was conceived as a grassroots initiative in response to the negative environmental effects from activities such as manatee poaching, illegal fishing, illegal logging, destructive farming methods, and other types of unsustainable development. Initially started by volunteers, TIDE has now grown to include 20 paid staff. TIDE's mission is to research and monitor Toledo's natural resources, to assist in protected areas planning and management and to lead the development of responsible tourism and other environmentally sustainable economic alternatives by providing training and support to local residents.

The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) has been hard at work over the past six years developing a sound conservation plan to address the growing threats of encroaching development and developing and implementing realistic income generating alternatives for our residents. These alternatives accomplish two goals: instilling a sense of ownership in our common resources while protecting them for future generations. Near to its inception, TIDE identified what is now known as the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor (MMMC) as a high priority conservation action site. The MMMC is a magnificent natural area covering almost one million acres of land and 1000 square miles of sea.

In order to sustain the protection of this area we must continue to work along with the buffer communities to ensure sound management and the development of income generating activities. We must also continue to provide adequate protection against illegal fishing and poaching, which is often carried out by residents of Guatemala within Belizean borders, making our job twice as hard. One of our methods of promoting marine protection amongst our residents was to develop programs within the community, which encourage local fisherman to find other more sustainable industries requiring the protection of our resources. Our fly-fisherman and tour guide training programs have been very successful in this area; some time ago we introduced sport fishing as an alternative to destructive net fishing. Today, almost every guide employed in the sport fishing industry in Toledo was at one time a net fisherman. As a result, the communities themselves lobbied the government along with TIDE for the declaration of the Port Honduras Marine Reserve, an area rich in biodiversity.

In the same vein, we have also been very successful in protecting some of our local forests and wildlife by training many of our hunters, loggers and swidden agriculturists to be general tour guides and kayaking guides. Though we have taken the first step, there are still many things we can do to reduce the stress in the forested area of the corridor. Paynes Creek National Park, which TIDE has managed for the past three years, is still at risk from logging, fires and large scale tourism development, while our private reserves along the Rio Grande and PHMR coastline are still at risk from tourism projects and private development.

TIDE has long been involved in other efforts to promote sustainable development in Toledo as a means of achieving conservation goals; innovative programs include a scholarship fund for children whose parents agree to stop using unsustainable fishing and farming methods and a net exchange program that allows fishermen to trade gillnets for more environmentally sensitive equipment.

TIDE has received investment from several international conservation organizations, such as the Oak Foundation and The Nature Conservancy, to increase its capacity to promote conservation and development projects in the district. Most recently, TIDE has been recognized by the UNDP Equator Prize 2002 for the organization's outstanding community efforts in the area of poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation.

Current Projects

• Co-management of Port Honduras Marine Reserve: patrols and maintenance of the park
• Co-management of Payne's Creek National Park: patrols and maintenance of the park
• Private Lands Initiative: acquisition of lands to be held in perpetuity for the people of Belize
• Freshwater Initiative: monitoring and research of all freshwater sources in the Maya Mountain Marine Area Transect
• Educational Programs and Community Outreach: scholarship program; swimming day camp and junior ranger camp; radio program
• Tri-National Alliance for the Conservation of the Gulf of Honduras member: cooperative effort between organizations in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras
• TIDETours: promoting local level ecotourism to ensure profits generated are kept within Toledo's communities.
• Caribbean Regional Environment Program: Demonstration Site