May 5, 2021
A Sustainably Harvested Honey in Toledo That’s Helping to Preserve Wild Forests!
If you like your honey golden and sweet, you are in for double the treat when you find out that the honey coming out of Toledo is also helping the environment. It’s a sustainably harvested honey that is bursting with flavours, but also has a value that goes beyond the taste buds where beekeepers are learning how to make money from bees without cutting down trees. It’s a livelihood initiative that seeks to position our greatest undervalued solution to the climate crisis forests. News Five went down into the forests of San Pedro Columbia to meet a nineteen-year-old beekeeper who is using his honey to pay his university education and keep the forests intact around his home. Andrea Polanco has the story.
Apr 1, 2021
Ya’axche Sounds Urgent Call for Help with clearings in M.M.N.F.R.
Tonight, we take you to Toledo where another protected area is under threat from Guatemalans illegally clearing large swaths of Belizean land. The Maya Mountain North Forest Reserve incursions are happening just a few miles into the forest and the Ya’axche Conservation Trust has disturbing drone footage to prove it. Reporter Andrea Polanco tells us more in the following story.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
There are land clearings happening inside the Maya Mountain North Forest Reserve. This is a protected area that has multiple uses, including a thriving and model agro-forestry cacao concession. But the encroachments are inching closer and managers of this protected area are worried. YCT’s Executive Director Christina Garcia says it’s the work of Guatemalans.
Feb 16, 2021
The Balance Between Conservation and Economic Activity in Protected Areas
The area is called “The Maya Golden Landscape,” and it’s the site of an exciting partnership between those working to maintain Belize’s healthy natural ecosystems and southern cacao farmers. News Five’s reporter Andrea Polanco recently joined personnel from the Ya’axche Conservation Trust and the Ministry of Sustainable Development to see how farming in this protected area is yielding results for both Mayan families and local biodiversity.
Andrea Polanco, Reporting
Deep in the Maya Golden Landscape – a forested area that expands from the mountains to the coast of Belize – there is important conservation working taking place – but there are also farmers whose livelihoods are thriving inside this forest. It’s a partnership led by Ya’axche Conservation Trust – where natural resources are being used sustainably to support Mayan families across several communitie