Introduction
Mangrove forests are found in the coastal regions of Belize, existing on a local scale.
Coastal and marine resource of a country is extremely valuable, which makes vital contributions to the country's economy and environment. However, most of these ecosystems are endangered and vulnerable because of negative human impact. This study focusing on the interaction between human and Belize’s mangroves-lined coasts is intended to provide a deep insight of the ecosystem’s current situation and a solid analysis of human’s impact on it.
Mangrove forests have been used as a resource to sustain populations through uses such as wood, fuel, food, and medicine while also serving as vital nesting grounds for birds as well as other species. They play a role in lowering the rates of coastal erosion and act as a buffer to the land during storms7.
If used sustainably along with respect for the ecosystem, mangrove forests could remain unharmed in a communal relationship with human populations. But if the exploitation and clearance of mangrove forests continue, the loss of this ecosystem may prove detrimental to surrounding populations and ecosystems.
Map of Belize 
HISTORY
Because mangrove forests exist within bodies of water, they are directly affected by changes in sea levels. Looking historically at mangroves, we are able to see that the mangroves that remain above water are able to do so because they have grown faster than the rate of rising sea levels. One study shows that mangroves were not present in the Twin Cays of Belize before 7500 years BP because the rate of their growth was less than the rate of rising sea levels7. Since then, the mangrove forests in the Twin Cays have matched rising sea levels.
The current question is whether mangrove forests will be able to keep up with rising sea levels as a result of rising sea temperatures and glacial melting.
Mangroves along the northeastern Caribbean coast of Belize
The Disappearing Mangroves
Human Impact
What benefits do people get?
Annual Economic Contribution of Coral Reefs and Mangroves in Belize
The coral reefs and mangrove-lined coasts play an essential role in Belize’s economy and development. As the most important capital Belize has, the mangroves of Belize is the main driver of Belize’s national income and the profits of the local industries. In addition to the economical benefits, the mangroves in Belize also act like a shield to protect the shorelines of Belize, which provide a safe environment for the local fishing.
Shoreline Protection
Belize’s mangrove-lined coasts protect the edge lands of Belize against wave- erosion and the other damages such as tropical storms. Therefore, the mangroves of Belize serve as the security of the artisanal fishing communities and support local people’s life for a long time. According to the annual economic analysis , about 230-350 million in dollar of economic value is created from the protection of mangroves to Belize’s fishing communities.
Fishing
Fishing, as a tradition lasting for generations in Belize, also benefits from the mangroves’ positive influence on the coast’ safety and livelihood. The estimated annual value created by mangroves-depended fishing is approximately $14–16 million.
Tourism
As a charming and popular target for tourists over the world, mangroves in Belize provide the core resource for Belize’s tourism industry, which is the main industry driving Belize’s annual income. The tourism in Belize added an estimated US$150 million to $196 million value to the national economy in 2007, which is about 12 to 15 percent of the national annual economy.
(Belize's Coastal Capital,The Economic Contribution of Belize's Coral Reefs and Mangroves by Emily Cooper, Lauretta Burke and Nadia Bood (WWF-CA) - November 2008)
Human’s negative impact on the ecosystem
Although mangroves are one of the most valuable ecosystem in the world, the mangrove ecosystem in Belize is endangered mostly because human’s over exploration and pollution. Various unexamined policies and unevaluated economic development plans are undertaken in recent years, such as overfishing, unwell-planned tourism and pollution from residents of the coast. Other negative impact which accelerate the disappearance of the mangroves in Belize are the warming ocean, the frequent tropical storms and the globally climate change.
Construction and Clearing : Because of the large area and the value of the land of Mangrove forests in Belize ,the Belizean people reconstruct the land with various purposes including agriculture,human residence and local industries. Before these settlements, different kinds of clearing conducted in the mangroves forests with extreme damage to the balance of mangroves’ ecosystem . Recent clearing for specific programs like tourist developments, shrimp aquaculture, and salt farms are undergoing and will last for a long term.This clearing create huge loss and unrecoverable damage to the mangroves in Belize.
an illegal development outside of the mangrove wall
Overharvesting and Overfishing: Mangrove trees are used for firewood, construction wood, wood chip and pulp production, charcoal production, and animal fodder. However, unsustainable harvesting and fishing threaten the future of the forests. The overfished population, unorganized and unregulated fishing industry in Belize break the balance of food chain in the ecosystem and further make the sustainability of the mangroves’ self-support chain hard to keep.
Pollution and Tourism: Although tourism associated with mangroves creates great value for the economy and improve people’s life, hundreds of thousands tourists each year brought undiffused pollution to this area. Other pollution such as fertilizers, pesticides infused the river system of mangrove forest from upstream can kill animals living in mangrove forests, making the biodiversity decline every year.
Climate change and Global warming: Stable sea levels are critical for mangroves’ long-term survival. However, the rise of sea level resulting from global warming greatly threatens mangroves’ growth and reproduction. The fast changing living environment will be a big challenge to mangroves’ adaptability.
(Mangrove forests: threats, WWF global, http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/coasts/mangroves/mangrove_threats/)
The Future of Mangroves in Belize
There are two major threats to mangroves’ future survival: threats from environment such as the change of weather, and anthropogenic threats such as clearance and construction. Both threats contribute to the uncertainty of mangroves’ success in the future but prediction of mangroves’ survival is more optimistic under the environmental threats then the anthropogenic threats.
Sedimentation and Sea level rise
Two the most critical factors for mangroves’ success are the salinity and sedimentation levels. Rainfall in the forest acts as a engine for the salt concentration regulation in the soil and freshwater’s distribution. Higher sea levels which continuously erase the coast along with frequent storms become the major consideration. According to Vulnerability Assessment of the Belize Coastal Zone - 2007, “ Observations have shown that mangroves affected by Hurricane Keith (1999) and Iris (2001) have still not fully recovered and continue to show signs of structural damage, die back and wind burn.”
Protection & Lack of Protection of Mangroves
Belize has strong laws around protecting mangroves and in order to cut down mangroves in Belize, one must acquire a permit from the Forest Department. Though these strong protections for mangroves exist in Belize, pressure from outside developers and calls to tourism may affect the protection of mangroves.
South Beach Belize
The construction project along the coast of South Beach Belize that came into consideration in the past few years would detrimentally affect the mangroves and ecosystems there. The Fire Department has been under pressure to grant the permit to developers to cut down mangrove forests for the creation of this new tourist site.8 This development is an example of the priorities faced by people within an economy that monetarily benefits from tourism. Tourism results in new job opportunities and brings in revenue for a country’s economy but it also leads to exploitation and pollution of the land.
Attention has been given to the loss of mangroves and the loss of the benefits received from mangroves in Belize as well as other countries in Latin America in recent years.
References:
Photos:
Map of Belize:
http://www.belize.com/belize-map
The Disappearing Mangroves: Photo by Nagyman on Flickr, http://amble.com/ambler/2011/10/the-disappearing-mangroves-of-belize/
Mangroves along the northeastern Caribbean coast of Belize: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/media/96127/
Annual Economic Contribution of Coral Reefs and Mangroves in Belize: http://www.wri.org/publication/belizes-coastal-capital
An illegal development outside of the mangrove wall: http://blogs.wwf.org.uk/blog/habitats/saving-belizes-mangrove-forests/
South Beach Belize: http://www.sanpedrosun.com/community-and-society/2009/02/17/workers-march-in-solidarity-of-south-beach-belize/
Latin America: Change in Mangrove Forest Cover: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/charts/latin-america/mangroves.html
Latin America: Change in Mangrove Forest Cover: http://rainforests.mongabay.com/deforestation/charts/latin-america/mangroves.html
