The Future of Reefs in a Changing Environment (FORCE), a research project was on Ambergris Caye for the past weeks conducting research on the status of the reef. The group held a community meeting on Wednesday July 25th at 7PM at the Lion’s Den to inform the general public on the surveys being held on the island.

The team of six: Dr. Johanna Forster, Dr. Rachel Turner, David Gill, Angelie Peterson, Cecilia Guerrero, and Lindolfo Chicas were on hand for the presentation and questions. Speaking of the project Dr. Forster stated; “It is an initiative that is looking at finding ways of managing Caribbean reefs. We are working in different countries in the Caribbean, speaking with people who use reefs for their livelihoods such as tourism and fishing. Our aim is finding out the changes they’ve seen with the reefs to see how the management of the reef is going and whether they think things are good, things are okay or things need to be changed. We are also looking at what the conditions are for improvement. We are really interested in finding out more about the livelihood dependency on the reef and reef management.”

The team was in San Pedro for about three weeks interviewing individuals that work in the tourism industry and use the reef for their livelihood, including the various environmental organizations. Prior to visiting Belize, the group worked in Honduras, St Kitts and Nevis and Barbados. In Belize, they worked in three communities; Hopkins, Placencia and San Pedro.

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