WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government, with a significant assist from the Nature Conservancy, has signed a landmark debt for nature swap to reduce by about one-half the debt which Belize owes to the United States. In exchange, the government of Belize has agreed to protect 23,000 acres of vulnerable forest land in Belize's Maya Mountain Marine Corridor, an area that includes 16 miles of pristine Caribbean coastline.
The Maya Mountain Marine Corridor in Belize includes 23,000 acres of forested lands that lie south of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and east of Guatemala. Belize's Maya Mountain Marine Corridor hosts one of the world's richest assemblages of biodiversity. It is home to more than 220 tree species and 350 species of birds. Wildlife that roams the landscape includes the jaguar, ocelot, marguay, Baird's tapir, Morelet's crocodile, scarlet macaw and the endangered West Indian manatee.
Treasury Department Under Secretary for International Affairs John Taylor and Belize's Ambassador to the U.S. Lisa Shoman signed the debt for nature agreement on Thursday. Under the agreement, the U.S. government will provide about $5.5 million, authorized under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (TFCA), for forest conservation in Belize.
This money will be used in part by the Belizean conservation group Toledo Institute of Development and Environment to purchase 8,000 acres of vulnerable forest lands, and to manage about 11,000 acres of forestlands now under control by the Belize government as the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve.
Under a related agreement, The Nature Conservancy will provide $800,000 to the U.S. government to help finance the debt for nature swap. The Nature Conservancy's total contribution to the debt for nature swap is $1.3 million, with $500,000 having been contributed in recent months to help conserve 4,200 acres of the 23,000 acres being protected.
Tropical birds such as the scarlet macaw need intact rainforests to survive. "This is a tremendous accomplishment for the conservation of one of the world's most valuable tropical rainforest ecosystems," said Steve McCormick, president and CEO of The Nature Conservancy. "I'm very proud that the Conservancy could help Belize -- a country that works very hard to protect its natural resources -- to reduce about one half of its outstanding debt to the U.S. in exchange for its commitment to invest in additional forest conservation."
"The forests lands being protected are vulnerable to aggressive logging and conversion to citrus farming or shrimp farming in artificial ponds," noted McCormick.
The Nature Conservancy-U.S. government agreement marks the first time that a private organization has become a substantial financial partner with the federal government in a debt for nature swap under the TFCA. The TFCA allows the U.S. government to restructure certain debt owed to it by developing countries with significant tropical forests, in return for a commitment by those countries to undertake meaningful forest conservation measures with the assistance of local conservation organizations.
"This agreement further demonstrates the important role that the Tropical Forest Conservation Act can play in protecting valuable natural resources," said Representative Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican who cosponsored the TFCA. "I applaud the efforts made by the Bush Administration and by The Nature Conservancy in helping to make this important agreement a reality."
The combined contributions of the U.S. government and The Nature Conservancy will enable the outright forgiveness of about $1.4 million of Belize's debt to the United States. In return, the government of Belize will issue $7.2 million in local currency obligations payable to the Toledo Institute of Development and Environment and the Belizean conservation groups Programme for Belize, Belize Audubon Society, as well as a new foundation being developed by the Protected Areas Conservation Trust.
