2001 Conservation Projects

Jump forward to see our 2001 rainforest conservation projects in Belize and Borneo.

Belize 2001

Sarstoon Temash

with Sarstoon Temash National Park

Visitor Centre construction

Sarstoon Temash is in the South of the country by the Guatemalan border. The task was to build a visitor/ research centre at the entrance to the reserve. The project was on behalf of the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management, run by Gregorio Choc, who is also the Mayan Representative to the Belize Government. SATIIM is a conglomerate of the 5 villages, which surround the park.

SATIIM has secured funding from the World Bank for specific projects such as ranger training and employment, visitor centres and bio-data surveys. The park itself protects a diverse wetland complex, including the country's most highly developed riverine mangrove.

Rio Blanco

with Rio Blanco National Park

Visitor Centre construction

This project team built a visitor centre around the beautiful Santa Cruz falls in the Mayan region of Toledo. The park is co-managed by The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Rio Blanco Mayan Association (RBMA).

The project is also supported by the Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT), the main non-government organisation which funds eco-tourism through Belize's exit tax. The idea behind the park is to generate a sustainable form of income for the area by utilizing the benefits of eco-tourism. The area was designated a protected area at the request from the indigenous communities, who gave the project their full support.The project was entirely funded by Trekforce Expeditions.

Caye Caulker

with Caye Caulker Marine Reserve and www.coastalzonebelize.org

Visitor Centre construction

This reserve encompasses 125 acres of land on Caye Caulker, one of the northernmost islands of Belize’s barrier reef system. This is co-managed by FAMRACC (Forestry and Marine Reserve Association of Caye Caulker) in association with Fisheries and Forestry of Belize. The reserve itself is primarily Mangrove with assorted trees and lagoons.

The project consisted of the building of a visitor centre and various boardwalk trails around the reserve. This centre now acts as a focal point for research into the effects of tourism and deforestation on the fragile reef system.

Blue Hole

with Belize Audubon Society, Forest Department of Belize, Conservation Division & the Maya Inland Expedition Group

Infrastructure improvement

The Belize Audubon Society, one of Belize’s oldest NGOs, is responsible for the management of seven national parks in Belize. Trekforce has often worked with the Society and enjoys a close relationship.

Our volunteers, working at the beautiful Blue Hole Reserve, were tasked with the upgrading of the reserve’s infrastructure. This involved the building of stairways, bridges and sleeping shelters to limit the damage caused by eco-tourists who provide a great source of income for the reserve.

The Belize Conservation Division also tasked this group with the reconnaissance of the ancient 100 km trail over the Maya Divide. The expedition was a collaboration with the Conservation Division of the Forest Department and the Maya Inland Expedition Group (MIEG). The report on the 14 day journey was logged with the department with a view to opening up the trail.

Abalone Caye

with Toledo Institute for the Development of the Environment (TIDE)

Warden's Post construction

This project was carried out on behalf of the Toledo Institute for the Development of The Environment (TIDE), an influential conservation NGO in South Belize run by Will Maheia. A small group of volunteers spent six weeks on Abalone Caye in the middle of this reserve, building a wardens' post and look out tower.

The building is used by wardens, working with the BDF, to deter illegal fishing in the reserve but also as an education centre. TIDE are committed to creating sustainable forms of eco-tourism so will use the centre to train fishermen to also act as guides for eco-tourists who wish to visit Belize’s rainforests and coral systems. This way, local people earn an income from preserving the environment.

Bladen

with Belize Department of Archaeology

Trail Cutting

This project carried on the work undertaken by our volunteers in Feb 2000. The research centre at La Sierra, centred in the Bladen Reserve, is a high profile organisation run by Dr Peter Dunham from Cleveland State University, USA. Royal Engineer units, furnished by the British Army in Belize, regularly send teams to build up the infrastructure of the complex.

The Trekforce team cut several trails into the reserve to allow researchers more easy access to the areas where the research is carried out. By sticking to properly signposted routes the research activity is managed responsibly. The Bladen reserve, where the work was undertaken, is one of the most strictly controlled reserves of Belize.

Fireburn

with Programme For Belize

Research Accommodation building construction

The Mesoamerican Wildlife Corridor Programme is a move to create a corridor of rainforest through Central America. This will allow wildlife to radiate over a large area and so prevent such problems as islandisation and niche extinction.

In Belize the programme is headed by Programme For Belize and closely supported by Wildtracks, a Belizean NGO that is working in the North of the Country. The Trekforce group working for Wildtracks built an accommodation building in the Fireburn Reserve to be used by researchers working for Wildtracks.

Trekforce worked in the Fireburn Reserve in 2000 when a group carried out a survey of an area of jungle in order for it to be designated as a protected area.

Borneo 2001

Pa Dapur

with the Bario and Kelabit Communities

Visitor Centre construction

We found ourselves upriver on the Pa Dapur, close to the Kalimantan border with instructions to build a visitor centre for the developing Kelabit Highlands Trail. This takes in Sarawak's highest mountain and some stunning rainforest.

Access to the area was possible only by twin-otter aircraft and so all volunteers, stores and equipment were delivered by air. Resupplies of food and equipment were then brought from Bario using two motorised dugout kayaks made especially for the expedition. Needless to say, it was the interaction with the spirited Kelabit people that contributed the special feel, which made this expedition what it was.

Permanca Ngimat Ayu, the Chief of the Kelabit and Bario Communities, opened the centre at the end of the expedition. We are delighted that he has invited us to return to carry out further project work in the region and to provide teaching assistants to help in local Kelabit Schools.

Sepilok

with Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre Sepilok

Infrastructure improvement

2001 sees the fourth expedition to the orangutan rehabilitation centre at Sepilok in eastern Sabah. The centre is the largest of its kind and is one of Sabah’s main tourist attractions. It is situated in the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve and is managed by the Wildlife and Forestry Departments of Sabah. Our first expedition (July-September 1999) upgraded the centre’s infrastructure. The reserve consists of beautiful dipterocarp primary rainforest of 200 ft high trees and abundant Wildlife.

A group of fifteen volunteers worked on the continued improvement of the infrastructure for the centre; building walkways, staircases, bridges and shelters. This facilitates the access to the centre by both keepers and visitors. It is important to provide facilities for tourists as their entry fees pay for the centre’s upkeep and for the work that is carried out there.

The Trekforce group also designed and printed brochures and promotional posters with the goal of highlighting the objectives of the centre and the exciting facilities it now provides for visitors.

The opening ceremony for the project celebrated all Trekforce’s work at the centre. The Guests of Honour included YB Datuk Abdul Ismail, Assistant Minister to The Chief Minister of Sabah and Mahadi Andau, the Head of the Wildlife Department of Sabah.