Protected areas of Belize

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Belizean jungles are home to the jaguar and many other mammals. Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary was founded in 1990 as the first wilderness sanctuary for the jaguar and is regarded by one author as the premier site for jaguar preservation in the world. (By Bjørn Christian Tørrissen (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), via Wikimedia Commons)


Protected area highlights for Belize (January 31, 2008):

  1. of
    Areas

Area
km2

Total Area of nationally recognized protected areas (% of Belize's Territorial Area)

107

12,636

30.2%

- Terrestrial (% of Belize's Terrestrial Territorial Area)

99

10,227

44.5%

- Marine and Littoral Protected Areas

19

2,409

Note that some protected areas include both terrestrial area and marine area

Nationally recognized protected areas greater than 1,000 km2

2

Nationally recognized protected areas greater than 10,000 km2

0

Wetlands of International importance (Ramsar Sites)

2

236

UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserves

34

71,697

There are 2 wetlands in Belize recognized as important under the the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention):

  • Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary (6,637 hectares)
  • Sarstoon-Temash National Park (16,955 hectares - all marine)

Anpther internationally recognized area of significance is the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System which is a World Heritage Site

The latest World Database on Protected Areas reports 108 nationally recognized protected areas in Belize (one more than in the summary above):

|- style="background-color: #5d7b9d" ! scope="col" align="left" | Site Name ! scope="col" align="center" | IUCN Designation ! scope="col" align="center" | Marine or
Terrestrial ! scope="col" align="right" | Total
Area
(hectares) ! scope="col" align="right" | Total
Marine
Area
(hectares) |- align="left"
1000 ft Falls Natural Monument III Terrestrial 522
Actun Tunichil Muknal Bird Sanctuary Ia Terrestrial 185
Agua Caliente Luha Wildlife Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 2,223
Aguacate Lagoon Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 115
Aguas Turbias National Park II Terrestrial 3,545
Altun Ha Archaelogical Reserve II Both 18
Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve - Both 6,546 6,546
Bacalar Chico National Park - Both 5,115 2,255
Balam Na Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 167
Barton Creek Archaelogical Reserve II Terrestrial 0.2
BFREE Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 500
Billy Barquedier National Park II Both 607
Bird Caye Bird Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 1
Bladen Nature Reserve Ia Terrestrial 40,339
Blue Hole National Park II Terrestrial 269
Blue Hole Natural Monument III Marine 414 414
Boden Creek Ecological Reserve Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 3,240
Burdon Creek Nature Reserve Ia Terrestrial 2,416
Cahal Pech Archaelogical Reserve II Terrestrial 9
Caracol Archaelogical Reserve IV Terrestrial 10,117
Caves Branch Archaelogical Reserve II Terrestrial 23,471
Caye Bokel South Point Turneffe - Marine 558 558
Caye Caulker Marine Reserve VI Marine 3,913 3,913
Caye Caulker Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 61
Caye Glory Emily Marine Reserve - Spawning Aggregation IV Marine 547 547
Cerro Maya Archaelogical Reserve II Both 17
Chiquibul Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 59,817
Chiquibul National Park II Terrestrial 107,348
Cockroach Bay Crocodile Reserve Ia Terrestrial 8
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 35,180
Columbia River Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 41,659
Commerce Bight Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 1,200
Community Baboon Sanctuary Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 12,980
Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary - Both 73,049 73,049
Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 16 713
Deep River Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 31,798
Dog Flea Marine Reserve - Spawning Aggregation IV Marine 576 576
Doubloon Bank Bird Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 2
El Pilar Archaelogical Reserve II Terrestrial 808
Fireburn Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 648
Fives Blues Lakes National Park II Terrestrial 1,643
Freshwater Creek Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 13,519
Gales Point Wildlife Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 3,681
Gallon Jug Estate Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 129,013
Gladden Spit Fisheries No Take Zone IV Terrestrial 1,122
Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve - Both 10,360 10,513
Glovers Reef Marine Reserve - Both 32,876 35,068
Golden Stream Reserve Private Reserve IV Both 11,019
Gra Gra Lagoon National Park II Terrestrial 484
Grants Work Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 3,439
Guanacaste National Park II Terrestrial 23
Half Moon Caye Natural Monument - Both 3,954 3,756
Hidden Valley Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 2,925
Hol Chan Marine Reserve - Both 1,543 1,389
Honey camp National Park II Both 3,145
Jaguar Creek Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 297
John Spang Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 613
Lamanai Archaelogical Reserve II Both 388
Laughing Bird Caye National Park - Marine 4,095 4,095
Little Guana Caye Bird Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 2
Los Salones Bird Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 1
Los Salones Bird Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 1
Lubaantun Archaelogical Reserve II Terrestrial 16
Machaca Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 1,520
Man of War Caye Bird Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 0.8
Manatee Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 36,583
Mango Creek Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 28,772
Maya Mountains Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 51,846
Mayflower Bocawina National Park II Both 2,876
Monkey Bay National Park II Terrestrial 2,876
Monkey Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 596
Monkey Caye Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 591
Monkey Caye Bird Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 0.5
Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 51,477
Nicholas Caye Fisheries No Take Zone IV Terrestrial 672
Nimli Punit Archaelogical Reserve II Both 49
Nojkaaxmeen Eligio Panti National Park II Both 5,235
North Glover's Reef Fisheries No Take Zone IV Terrestrial 622
Paynes Creek National Park II Terrestrial 12,819
Pine Hill Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 3,198
Port Honduras Marine Reserve - Both 40,622 40,469
Río Blanco National Park II Terrestrial 40
Río Bravo Conservation and Management Area Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 99,483
Rise and Fall Bank Fisheries No Take Zone IV Terrestrial 1,721
Rocky Point Fisheries No Take Zone IV Terrestrial 566
Runaway Creek Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 2,883
San Pedro Company Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 2,810
Sandbore Marine Reserve - Spawning Aggregation IV Marine 521 521
Santa Rita Archaelogical Reserve II Both 2
Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve - Both 17,215 17,215
Sarstoon-Temash National Park II Terrestrial 16,956
Seal Caye Fisheries No Take Zone IV Terrestrial 648
Shipstern Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 8,228
Sibun Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 42,966
Silk Grass Forest Reserve - Terrestrial 2,641
Sittee River Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 37,938
South Point Lighthouse Marine Reserve - Spawning Aggregation IV Marine 533 533
South Water Caye Marine Reserve - Both 47,703 47,702
Spanish Creek Wildlife Sanctuary IV Terrestrial 2,422
St George's Caye Mangrove Reserve IV Terrestrial 5
Swallow Caye Wildlife Sanctuary IV Both 3,631 3,231
Swasey-Bladen Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 5,981
Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve Ia Terrestrial 2,729
TIDE Crown Block Reserves Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 7,886
TIDE Debt-for-Nature Swap Reserve Private Reserve IV Terrestrial 1,970
Vaca Forest Reserve VI Terrestrial 21,187
Victoria Peak Natural Monument III Terrestrial 1,962
Xunantunich Archaelogical Reserve II Terrestrial 21

Source: The CIA World Factbook

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Further Reading:

  1. World Resources Institute(accessed May 26, 2009)
  2. World Database on Protected Areas (accessed May 26, 2009)

Citation

Areas, W. (2014). Protected areas of Belize. Retrieved from http://editors.eol.org/eoearth/wiki/Protected_areas_of_Belize
Retrieved from "https://editors.eol.org/eoearth/index.php?title=Protected_areas_of_Belize&oldid=136735"