As in almost every country in the world, Belizean fishermen had begun to observe drastic changes in their catches. The fishing activity in Belize represents an important revenue to the country, generating a reported 29 million USD in 2012 and providing employments to approximately 2,800 fishers. More than 15,000 Belizeans directly benefit from fishing activities. Belize had already implemented measures that had prevented the depletion of fisheries that its neighbors had experienced (by establishing a marine reserve network and implementing size limits, closed seasons and gear restrictions). But as an open access fishery, there was still a risk of overfishing that threatened fishers’ livelihoods, exports, and the industry due to the uncontrolled growth in the number of fishermen. Concerns for Belize’s fisheries’ future and food safety, rose rapidly and new solutions were sought.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Agenda 2030 (reference) as well as the Aichi targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (reference) recognize the need to safeguard marine ecosystems for sustainable development and to eradicate world poverty. The value in the world economy of services attributed to marine ecosystems is estimated at around USD 28 trillion (reference).

Joel Verde is Executive Director of the Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development (SACD), an effective alliance of organizations focused on community development and the sustainable use of the Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary’s resources for the benefit of the present and future generations. He is also a very active MAR Leadership Fellow from the 2012 cohort. We invite you to meet him and learn about his experiences and lessons learned along the way.

Today we celebrate a very special day for us: the Mesoamerican Reef Day!

Being one the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, the Mesoamerican Reef is is the world’s largest transboundary barrier reef, home to two million people from different cultures. Collaboration efforts among the four countries started 20 years ago in 1997, when the heads of State of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras singed the Tulum Declaration to promote MAR conservation through its sustainable use. Although great work has been done towards its protection were born since then, the MAR still faces great challenges and needs the renewed commitment from the four countries’ authorities. This is why MAR Fund and MAR Leadership Program/FMCN launch the Tulum+20 pledge.

Guillermo Gálvez is MAR L Fellow of the 2015 Generation. We asked him about his passion for the environment, his work at FUNDAECO, his experience as a MAR Fellow and his important economic and social valuation study of the mangrove.