Belize Protected Areas
Belize natural resources are vast and spectacular. Off the coastline, it has the largest barrier reef and three of the four atolls found in the Western Hemisphere. Inland, it boasts the largest limestone cave system in the region along with a large unspoiled rainforest area and much more.
A third of the country’s land and marine environments have been designated as protected areas, and most are managed for tourism.
Over 60% of travelers visit a protected area during their stay in Belize.
There are over 103 protected areas. Presently, the Forest Department manages five categories of protected areas, those being National Parks, Nature Reserves, Natural Monuments, Forest Reserves and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
Other categories are managed by PACT which funds all of Belize protected areas. The Protected Areas Conservation trust (PACT) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection and sustainable management of Belize’s valuable natural resources.
Protected Areas Conservation Trust
In 1996, Belize was considered a pioneer with the passing of the PACT Act. Today, the protected areas landscape continues to take shape and expand. Currently there are 103 protected areas that form a vast national protected areas system (NPAS), with categories that encompass forest reserves, nature reserves, national parks, marine reserves, private reserves, wildlife sanctuaries, natural monuments, bird sanctuaries, spawning aggregation reserves and archaeological reserves.
After over twenty-five years, PACT has evolved from a grant-funding mechanism and is now the country’s accredited national implementing entity (NIE) of the Adaptation Fund and has become the Caribbean region’s second and Belize’s first National Direct Access Entity of the Green Climate Fund. The organization has been engaged in fiduciary roles for such agencies as the World Bank, the Meso-American Reef Fund (MAR Fund), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Central American Commission for Development and Environment (CCAD) and the Belize Nature Conservation Foundation (BNCF).
In October 2015, the amended PACT legislation was passed which expanded PACT’s legal mandate to “setting strategic priorities for the development, mobilization, and allocation of financial resources for the BNPAS.” In 2018, PACT transitioned from an annual competitive grants program to a Conservation Investment Program guided by a Conservation Investment Strategy. This new strategy took a long-term approach to responding to the needs of the BNPAS while supporting biodiversity and ecosystem protection, building financial sustainability, and expanding socio-economic benefits from Belize’s Protected Areas System.