Published by Development - On 23 June 2010

On Wednesday June 23, the US Ambassador to Belize, Vinai Thummalapally and his team went on a field visit to TIDE Private Protected Lands and the Port Honduras Marine Reserve managed by The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment. The journey began with a visit to the TIDE Private Protected lands where he learned about the work that park rangers do at the private lands. Eugenio Ah, manager, mentioned that rangers conduct regular patrols up the Rio Grande River and on the TIDE private protected lands to ensure that fishers and hunters follow fishing and hunting regulations. He outlined additional duties of rangers that include Education and outreach in buffer communities, restoration of riparian zone along the Rio Grande River, clearing of private lands survey lines and maintenance of the station grounds.

US Ambassador visits TPPL		US Ambassador visits PHMR

The field trip continued with a trip to the Port Honduras Marine Reserve. The main stop was at the ranger station on Abalone Caye. Senior ranger, Carlos Ramirez introduced his team of rangers and ranger Godfrey Alford made a presentation on the management of the reserve. He spoke about the zones in the reserve, rules and regulations, and gave a brief description of a regular day of work at the reserve. The visit concluded with a visit to the conservation zone.
The Ambassador was pleased to learn of TIDE’s conservation efforts and applauded the work of park rangers whom he interacted with during the morning visit.