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Belmopan,
Belize - New strides for the future of the jaguar were made last week
with the signing of a critical conservation agreement between the
government of Belize, Panthera, a global wild cat conservation organization, and the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) of the University of Belize.
Assembling near Belize City, the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries & Sustainable Development, the Honorable Senator Lisel Alamilla, led the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Panthera's CEO and leading jaguar scientist, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, and Interim President of the University of Belize, Dr. Wilma Wright, on Friday, February 21st. This trilateral agreement represents a pledge by all parties to collaboratively implement science-based conservation initiatives that secure and connect jaguars and their habitats in Belize and beyond its borders, facilitate land development that is both ecologically sustainable and economically profitable, and mitigate human-jaguar conflict throughout the country.
Panthera's Dr. Alan
Rabinowitz explained, "The signing of this historic agreement
epitomizes conservation action and partnerships coming full circle.
Nearly thirty years ago, I studied the jaguars of Belize, and today we
return to the birthplace of jaguar research and conservation to
reignite and strengthen the commitment, strategy and resources required
to ensure this species lives on, for the next thirty years, and
beyond."
Dr. Rabinowitz continued,
"This MOU now represents Panthera's sixth jaguar conservation agreement
with a Latin American government, and our team will continue to work,
country by country, to build partnerships with all nations home to the
jaguar, connecting and protecting the entire eighteen-nation mosaic that
is the jaguar's range."
Belize's
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries & Sustainable Development, the
Honorable Senator Lisel Alamilla, stated, "The jaguar is an iconic
species of Belize. Their survival is dependent on our willingness to
seek solutions that balance human interest and protection of their
habitat. I am convinced that Belize, along with all its partners, can
find win-win solutions for us to co-exist."
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Panthera
CEO Dr. Alan Rabinowitz signs a jaguar conservation MOU with Belize's
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable Development, the
Honorable Senator Lisel Alamilla
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Today, Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative (JCI)
is the largest and most effective carnivore conservation program in
existence; spanning nearly six million square kilometers, the JCI seeks
to connect and protect jaguar populations from Mexico to Argentina to
ensure the species' genetic diversity and survival. Belize is one of 13
countries with which Panthera is implementing strategic jaguar
conservation science, and now, along with Belize, Panthera has
solidified MOUs in Latin America with the governments of Panama, Guyana,
Costa Rica, Honduras and Colombia.
Buttressing the southern
tip of Mexico and eastern border of Guatemala, Belize serves as an
integral link connecting jaguars within these countries, and all jaguar
populations south of Belize. As a stronghold for jaguars in Mesoamerica,
Belize is also highly unique in that it protects a greater proportion
of land (43%) through national parks and private reserves than any other
nation in Central America.
Pioneering the field of
jaguar field science and conservation, Panthera's Dr. Rabinowitz first
radio-collared jaguars in Belize in the early 1980s, illuminating new
insights into the ecology of the species, and setting the stage for
subsequent research which demonstrated that Belize's Cockscomb Basin
contained the highest density of jaguars ever recorded at the time,
anywhere in the wild. This research was instrumental in establishing the
world's first jaguar preserve in 1986 - the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife
Sanctuary.
Today, Dr. Rabinowitz's
and Panthera's jaguar conservation initiative in Cockscomb and the Maya
Mountains lives on, currently operating as the world's longest-running
scientific study of the species' population dynamics, ecology and
behavior. A testament to the strict and effective protections afforded
for the species, Cockscomb still shelters one of the highest densities
of jaguars anywhere in the wild. Panthera's unique camera trap data has
documented the presence of 131 jaguars in the Cockscomb study area over
11 years, and uncovered new findings about the species, including that
wild jaguars can live at least 13 years.
Since 2008, Panthera has
also partnered with the Ministry of Forestry, Fisheries and Sustainable
Development, ERI and Belize Audubon Society to implement environmental
education projects, monitor jaguar populations and their prey, reduce
jaguar-livestock conflict, and maintain critical connectivity of these
populations in and between the Central and Southern Belize Corridors,
which touch the borders of Mexico and Guatemala.
University
of Belize Interim President, Dr. Wilma Wright, shared, "The signing of
today's MOU is significant because it brings together three parties
interested in protecting and conserving the jaguars of Belize. This MOU
will result in strategic action plans to reduce tension among humans and
wildlife and allow us to better contribute to the sustainable
development of Belize."
Learn more about Panthera's Jaguar Corridor Initiative.
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