Saving the Jaguars of Belize

jaguars of belize Saving the Jaguars of Belize

When one thinks of Belize, images of coral reefs, white sand beaches, and lush green jungles teeming with wildlife come to mind. Unfortunately, Belize’s tropical rainforests are under siege, as logging companies from China, Indonesia and Japan continue to clear cut vast swaths of forested land in order to supply valuable timber to international markets.

Even more rainforest territory is being destroyed to make way for cattle ranches and plantations. Many of these properties are then sold off to unsuspecting American and European retirees with the promise of huge returns. While ranch owners might initially reap rewards in the first couple years of ownership, eventually, many of these ranches and plantations fail, due to the poor soil quality upon which they were founded, thereby resulting in bankruptcies or huge losses for the owners.

Rainforest soil is ill suited to agriculture. The soil underneath the dense rainforest canopy is fragile and thin; without the protective cover of trees and the wide network of roots, the thin layer of soil erodes quickly with the rain and wind, which wash away what little nutrients there are. Because the soil is low in nutrition, it cannot support healthy pasture for cattle or intense agriculture for much more than two years. In the southwestern parts of Belize, especially in the mountainous Cayo district, which was once covered by dense rainforests and home to jaguars, most of these ranches are now up for sale. Owners that have experienced the sudden economic collapse of their ranches are now looking to sell of their properties for whatever price that they can get.

The desperation of ranch owners to sell to sell off their properties has resulted in plummeting real estate prices, making it an opportune time to purchase land for reforestation and jaguar conservation. Jaguars are the largest wild cats that currently roam in the jungles of Belize. Uncontrolled logging has severely reduced the size of the jaguars’ natural habitat and decreased their food supply. Due to increased scarcity of their natural prey, jaguars come into conflict with humans and prey on the cattle that now occupy their former habitat. In a bid to protect their property and cattle, ranchers attack and kill the jaguars. While nobody knows how many jaguars have been killed, some conservative estimates claim that more than 15000 jaguars have died due to their conflict with humans.

The Rainforest Trust and the Eco-Preservation Society are currently raising funds for to buy out bankrupt ranches for the purposes of reforestation. Cattle ranches are great locations to begin reforestation, as they already possess the basic infrastructure necessary for these kinds of projects. The houses provide good quality shelter for the volunteers, as well as for the local Mayan people participating in the conservation program. Furthermore, by acquiring these ranches, conservation dollars would be spent primarily on jaguar conservation and not on constructing houses for the volunteers.

You can help support jaguar conservation through your donation to Eco-Preservation Society’s Belize Reforestation Project.

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