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Country Region Year Name of the property. Without With. Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System The coastal area of Belize is an outstanding natural system consisting of the largest barrier reef in the northern hemisphere, offshore atolls, several hundred sand cays, mangrove forests, coastal lagoons and estuaries.
Integrity The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System is one interconnected system comprised of seven marine protected areas located along the length of the barrier reef, the shelf lagoon and offshore atolls. Protection and management requirements Extending from the border with Mexico to the north, to near the Guatemalan border to the south the geographical spread of this serial property poses a number of management challenges.
News Events 3. Links Protectedplanet. WebGL must be enable, see documentation. Media Activities News Events Links. Moreover, the Belizean government approved the legislation without knowing exactly how much oil they were giving up.
Belize first discovered onshore oil in , at a site known as Spanish Lookout. Some environmental advocates say that even those small quantities pose a threat in the form of potential spills or contamination.
But everyone, including BNE, agrees that working offshore would increase those risks exponentially. And low oil prices are making it an impossible gamble for investors to take at the moment. While others are merely resigned to the new law, some take issue with how the decision was made in the first place. Even some of the moratorium proponents, including Minister Barnett, argue that, at the very least, more data could have been useful. She and Woods represent opposite political parties.
After Turneffe, we take a quick swing past a shipwreck. The deep blue circle of water is ringed by rock-like coral, and surrounded by lighter Caribbean blues and greens. Two tour boats are parked in the Blue Hole. Snorkelers are fanned out on one side, divers on the other. The pilot banks left, to circle above. We take a few counterclockwise laps at feet. Then a few clockwise laps at 1, feet. Phones come out, cameras click, and sun spots abound on the perfectly clear day.
Everyone is in awe, even the pilot, who has been on the trip hundreds of times. After the last pass around the Blue Hole, we straighten out and head back toward land, seeing one more popular tourist site, Half-Moon Caye, along the way.
As we get closer to shore, the islands are increasingly dotted with hotels, new construction sites, and other manmade structures. At one point, Chanona says, someone proposed building a runway directly on top of the reef. About five miles out, we buzz over more cruise ships.
But the development associated with the industry is also one of the myriad threats that the reef, and those trying to protect it, still face. Gill net fishing, invasive lionfish , and pollution runoff are all major issues as well. But the hope is that, with the moratorium moving the oil issue to the back burner, these other problems can now be more easily tackled. He says Belize has already been sharing their experiences with groups in Indonesia, Cuba, and the Philippines, among others. An oil spill elsewhere—like in Guatemala or Honduras, for example—could impact Belize, too.
Illegal fishing coming in from the outside is a constant threat. Among the various speakers was Lisa Carne, a marine biologist and founder of the non-profit Fragments of Hope , which focuses on coral restoration. She had come to update the group about coral bleaching. Over the last decade, she said, bleaching has become a near annual occurrence, with being one of the worst years yet. Last fall, she elaborated, abnormally high water temperatures impacted more than forty percent of the coral across ten study sites.
As Carne alluded to, much of the damage done to reefs may be irreversible. On our way back to base, we pass over the barrier reef again. Stretching for miles in each direction, it fades into the horizon. As the helicopter lands, and the rotors wind down, she reiterates her message to Barnett and Woods. All rights reserved. National Geographic produced this content as part of our partnership with Rolex , formed to promote exploration and conservation. A manatee mother and calf browse along Swallow Cay, Belize.
Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London Love them or hate them, there's no denying their growing numbers have added an explosion of color to the city's streets. After that, the political tide turned. In , the government announced a formal policy to ban offshore oil drilling in the seven marine parks that make up the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve.
Then, last December, the government announced a ban on offshore drilling in all of its waters. This summer, strict regulations on the cutting of mangroves also went into effect. Root reports that Belize has made other changes as well, including new environmental taxes to support the reef, restricted fishing of sensitive species like parrot fish and efforts to limit foreign fishing trawlers.
It has also boosted its no-fishing zones from 3 percent of its waters to 10 percent. Next year, the government has announced plans to ban all single-use plastics, which have also polluted the reef.
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