http://tidebelize.org

We have began adding our information to the site. If you visit you will find audio, video, images, blogs, articles and reports.

It will take us a few months to backdate all of the information we have accumulated over the last ten years, but new content is being added daily…

We hope this website will be a good tool for students as well as a good place for local conservation discussion in the future.

Make use of the RSS feeds, or sign-up for an account, which will allow you to comment within the site – where appropriate – as well as decide which types of new content you want to be notified about,  and how you receive that notification.

Hicatee picture from the Turtle Conservation Alliance

The closed season for Hicatee is 1 – 31 May each year. During this time TIDE Rangers pay special attention during patrols of the Rio Grande River and other locations in and around the protected areas of Port Honduras Marine Reserve, Payne’s Creek National Park and the TIDE Private Protected Lands.

Hicatee, the common name for the Central American River Turtle (Dermatemys mawii), is a critically endangered freshwater turtle. The turtle is characterized by large webbed feet, a smooth shell and a small head with a pointed snout and large nostrils. Males typically have a golden-yellow patch on the head; females and juveniles have grayish heads. Average length is up to 24 inches and average weight up to 50 pounds. Also known as Tortuga Blanca and Tortuga Riverena Centroamericana, the turtle is mostly herbivorous with some dietary inclusion of macro invertebrates, snails, and fish. Habitually found in riparian forest, the turtle’s diet includes fig and other succulent broadleaf and grasses. In captivity they are fed freshwater turtle biscuits comprised of fruit, vegetable, small fish and leaves from local trees. The female usually lays six to twenty eggs on the edge of riverbanks during the months of September through November.

Belize Fisheries Regulations state the following regarding the Hicatee
No person shall in his possession more than 3 or transport on any vehicle more than 5 such turtles.
No person shall buy or sell any such turtles.
Minimum catch size for female turtle is 15.2 inches and maximum 17.2 inches.
Closed season: 1st May to 31st May, inclusive of any year.

Help TIDE protect the Hicatee!

The turtle is in real danger of dying out, but with conservation and protection we can promote a healthy population we can enjoy for many years to come.

Camps are scheduled to be held in Punta Gorda and Monkey River and a combined San Marcos/Big Falls camp and are held during Monday through Friday for a half day.

Depending on funding camp locations can be expanded. Please donate to make our camp a success! Contact the office directly or visit this link to donate.

The camp will enhance public awareness about the importance of conserving biodiversity within the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor of southern Belize. A dedicated group of volunteers, supported by TIDE staff, will lead and facilitate majority of activities for the camp.

Activities will include:

1. Formal and Informal sessions to teach concept of ‘Biodiversity’

2. An Introduction to Bird Watching

3. Bird Watching Field Trip

4. Biodiversity monitoring nature walks in communities

5. Information on what TIDE, local communities, businesses and others are doing to conserve biodiversity? Why is conserving biodiversity important and how can individuals and communities participate?

6. A Marine unit on seagrass beds and the species that depend on seagrass (turtles, manatees, fish nurseries)

7. Arts focused on biodiversity and using trash in creative ways.

8. Sports

9. Formal sessions on the importance of the riparian forests;

10. Tree planting

2009 TIDE Summer Camp Field Trip to learn about Crocodiles

TIDE is currently engaged in preparing for and conducting organizational capacity building for fisher folk cooperatives through a grant from the MAR Fund. TIDE is eager to work with communities committed to conservation in southern Belize and is limited only by time and funding to work with our stakeholders and partners.

Jessica

TIDE is fortunate to attract talented and committed volunteers. On Friday we bid a fond farewell to Jessica Bremehr who had shared her time and talents with TIDE Tours working at the office on Front Street in Punta Gorda. TIDE Tours is a income earning venture of the nonprofit TIDE and provides service to tourists and visitors to the Toledo District through guided tours on land and sea. To learn more or to contact us for information please visit TIDE Tours. TIDE Tours Manager, Mr. Karel Kuran is ready to assist you to develop a once in a lifetime tour of southern Belize.

Jessica also found time to volunteer in the community and spent all day Saturday at the Toledo Cacao Fest helping children to create puppets from paper bags and scraps of material, yarn and colored paper.

Thank you, Jessica!  We wish you all the best in the future.

(reposted from the APAMO Blog – original links at title above)

In July of this year, The Ya’axche’ Conservation Trust alerted the public to the illegal campsites and bulldozing activity being conducted by the Hydro Maya facility on the Bladen Nature Reserve. Considered the crown jewel of Belizean protected areas, Bladen Nature Reserve (BNR) co-managed by YCT, is a 100,000 acre, pristine natural forest in southern Belize and currently enjoys the status of a Nature Reserve, the highest level of protection a protected area in Belize can have. It is considered to be one of the most biodiversity-rich, and topographically unique areas within the Mesoamerican biodiversity “hotspot.” BNR’s role in watershed protection within the area is also important as it protects the upper waters of the Monkey River watershed, preserving the quality of the water draining onto the Belize Barrier Reef 26 km to the east. This water system additionally provides water for local communities and large agricultural areas on the coastal plain.

The developers have a concession agreement signed by the Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow for the construction of a dam along the Rio Grande River. Research work has already begun by the company. Residents of San Pedro Columbia are against the building of a hydro dam. In November of 2009 a committee was appointed by the San Pedro Columbia Villagers to address these issues and to lead the advocacy initiative. A team of committee members including Mayan leaders from the village accompanied by the BDF and forestry department hiked into the reserve to observe firsthand the damage that had occurred in the area.

They found significant impacts to both natural and archaeological resources in the area. Pristine areas of the forest were cleared on slopes, creeks were blocked, illegal resources used, and unauthorized road development. These activities are of particular concern due to the international biological importance of the area which has been listed as a national focal site for biodiversity conservation.

Once the team completed their assessment they presented their findings to community leaders and local citizens in San Pedro Columbia Village on December 13th. During this community meeting the team discussed their findings, expressed their concerns, and prompted community members to formulate recommendations that would be submitted to the Government of Belize.

The recommendations from the San Pedro Columbia community leaders and villagers was a call for the Government of Belize to revoke the 15-year concession granted in December of last year to the Belize Hydroelectric Developer and Management Company Limited for the development of the hydro potential of Belize’s majestic Rio Grande Basin. The villagers voted on and passed a resolution asking that Prime Minister Barrow address these issues or they would be forced to conduct a peaceful protest.

The committee, villagers, community leaders, and citizens along these buffer areas continue to call for a response from Prime Minister Barrow but to date the GOB has not made a statement or elected to meet with committee members.The company had also created a road which subsequently facilitated access for wildlife hunters and xaté palm harvesters – both banned in the reserve.

APAMO has written to both the Prime Minister and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment supporting the request being made by the Columbia River Forest Reserve Bladen Nature Reserve Committee to revoke the concession agreement granted to the Belize Hydro-electric Development and Management Ltd (BHD).

APAMO considers that this type of development is not appropriate for this highly ecologically rich and sensitive area. The Bladen Nature reserve may be one of the last pristine areas in Belize. The negative effects of the Challio Dam and the Hydro Maya Dam on both the Macal and San Miguel rivers are already visible. The rivers are no longer pristine and clear, there is greater siltation, increased erosion all of which do not only have negative environmental impacts but negative social impacts as well. We have yet to see the benefits of lowered electricity rates as a result of these dams. Instead, the outcomes have been unmitigated environmental and social impacts on the people of the Cayo and Toledo districts; hence we need to look at other more environmentally friendly options.

We recommend that the government conduct a renewable energy study and implement the most feasible and environmentally friendly options. Destroying part of our most pristine and highest protected nature reserves is not, in the least, the progressive way to go.

APAMO calls on the government to reconsider the concession granted to BHD and to engage in meaningful consultation with all the key stakeholders in any future developments that will have impacts on our environment, protected areas and our people.

Agapito Pop receives certificate from TIDE Program Manager, Joe Villafranco

The Bird Ecology Training Program I attended consisted of 3-day courses with the first course in November 2009 and the second in May 2010. The course consisted of seventeen participants, sixteen male and 1 female from Orange Walk, Dangriga, Monkey River, and Punta Gorda. The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) sponsored me and 8 other community members around the Toledo District. I work as a tour guide for TIDE Tours and can say that I learned a lot of new things from this course. The courses included the evolution of birdlife, speciation, systematics, and classification. Everyone was given a six month birding project to complete. All the participants successfully completed their projects and graduated. To be honest, the course was very challenging, but I can successfully say it was well worth it. I am now able to identify birds by their wings, beaks, eyes, and their movement. I would like to say thank you to our instructors Bill Gette and David Larson from Massachusetts Audubon Society for all their work. I would also like to say thank you to TIDE for sponsoring me and making this course possible for the other participants.
- Agapito Pop
Big Falls, Toledo District, Belize

Participants:

Bird Ecology Course, Graduates

Eddie Tzib
Jeronimo Tzib
Estevan Choco
Kazerine Garbutt
Alfonso Zuniga
Gordan Zuniga
Nelson Bahadur
Edwin Lopez
Mario Requena
Frank Foster
Agapito Pop
Marvin Ramirez
Luis Romero
Meshack Eliah
Ashford Miranda
Blasio Ical
Chadwick Usher

Training in the field

The response was awesome. More than 80 people submitted their photographs to us.

Now, check out the winning photo from Mary Jo Marroquin of Doral, Fla.

Mary Jo, a teacher at a Montessori school, has this to say about her photo of kids learning how to plant seeds: “I know that our future lies in the minds and hands of our kids. That’s why if we teach them how to grow and take care of our natural resources, we can have hope for the outcome of our world in the future: greener, better, and healthier!”

You can also check out a gallery of some other great photos that people submitted:

TIDE was one of the top vote getters – click on the picture! Thank you to everyone who voted for TIDE and congratulation to Mary Jo for great photos of a great project. We are glad to have been a part of this effort.

Congratulations to Mary Jo, who’s won a $50 Preservation gift card from Starbucks. And congratulations to all the Team Earth members who sent us inspiring pictures of people taking action for the planet. Together, we can make a difference.

http://twitter.com/APAMOBelize
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Belize-City-Belize/Association-of-Protected-Areas-Management-Organization/125199120830760

Remember you can follow TIDE on twitter and facebook.

http://twitter.com/RuthAnneTIDE

The Rising TIDE facebook cause

Facebook Groups

Save Abalone Caye!

TIDE Weekend

and remember our website (keep checking back, the website is undergoing a major revision and the new version will be available soon)

www.tidebelize.org

Gemma

When I was told that I was able to join Marlon (TIDE, Junior Marine Biologist), on the turtle monitoring programme that the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) run, I was thrilled. So after a short journey to Dangriga we met the boat at the dock, hopped on and endured a long and bumpy road out to Middle Caye located on Glovers Reef.

Marlon holding the largest turtle caught so far in the survey

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I wasn’t expecting a picture perfect paradise with a warm welcome from unknown friendly faces.

That evening we met the team which composed of WCS employees, the Island manager, staff members from the Fisheries Department and other volunteers, we were debriefed as to what the project was about, its previous success rates and the  methods to be used in carrying out the project.

The next morning we headed out and put our training in to practise. The aim was to snorkel for 60 minutes in a line transect and spot turtles. Once you spotted one, you held your hand up and others from the line we’re sent over to assist you in free diving down to catch them. Once and IF in my case; they we caught they were brought back to the boat, measured, weighed, tagged and then released .
Over the week we collectively saw 117 and 48 were caught; this year saw the record be beaten for sightings and catches. It also saw the largest turtle being caught, weighing in at a whopping 70lbs (see photo)

TIDEs very own Marlon turned out to be the star turtle catcher (some now call him The Turtle Whisperer), with a record of 18 catches he’ll be getting a call back next year, wish I could say the same, with only 4 sightings and catching a massive O I won’t be waiting by the phone.
So with a successful week behind us it was time to leave, my heart saddened saying good bye to Middle Caye, the friends I’d made and all the turtle times imaginable. I know the memories will last with me forever and I’d like to thank all that made it possible for me.
Keep up the good work guys!