TIDE GETS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

January 09, 2007

The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, TIDE has a new Executive Director. Love News spoke with TIDE’s Communications Coordinator George Emmanuel.

George Emmanuel:TIDE’s Communications Coordinator

“She is Mrs. Celia Mahung. She was the former Campus Administrator at UB Toledo and she has taken up office here with us at TIDE because Will Mejia has step down as Executive Director and he will be taking on other endeavors. Ms. Celia has a long back ground with TIDE. As a matter of fact she has been with TIDE since its inception in 1997 as a board member. She also served in the port Honduras marine reserve advisory committee representing the University of Belize. That was during here stay there at the University as campus administrator. She has a long term commitment with the organization and her strength lie in her passion for the development of the Toledo district building capacity. She has a wealth of knowledge of the local people and the costumes in and around the Toledo district because this is where she is originally from and of course at our last staff meeting before the end Will Mejia mentioned that he is confident that she will be taking TIDE to the next level where it needs to go.”

Emmanuel said as an organization, they have accomplished much as they enter their tenth year.

George Emmanuel: TIDE’s Communications Coordinator

“TIDE its self is an organization being the leading NGO in the Toledo district and there is no doubt about it. No other organization can match up to the contributions that it has made and the number of international recognition awards that it has received.TIDE in 1997 was one of the co founders of the tri national alliance for the Gulf of Honduras. Following that in 1999 TIDE was named environmental organization of the year in Belize. In the year 2000 TIDE won the ecotourism show case award for none profits and travel. In that same year TIDE was also the recipient of cliff messenger award from the nature conservancy. 2001 working with the nature conservancy TIDE was able to negotiate the first dept for nature swap in Belize with the government. Tide has been the runner up for the equator prize that the BUNDP world summit. In 2004 again tide was chosen as Belize’s partner for the Caribbean regional environmental project that’s the project which received funding from the European Union. Tide initiated the only conservation athletes program which engages people in playing football while they contribute to the sustainable development by doing environmental projects. So the list goes on and on and we are coming into our tenth year now and we will be having a number of activities this year.”

George Emmanuel, TIDE’s Communications Coordinator.Love News also spoke with the new Executive Director Celia Mahung.

Celia Mahung:Executive Director of TIDE.

“TIDE has an opportunity to continue to conduct relevant research in the protected areas that we manage namely the Port Honduras marine reserve and pains creek national park and of course our private lands initiative. I would like to see us doing more intensive research and using that data to inform decisions to develop management plans for those areas. I see use collaborating with students from the UB and other sixth forms and of course international research teams to gather relevant data. Presently at tide we see the need to continue create more awareness of our natural recourses and to understand that they can be depleted very quickly if we do not practice sustainable use of them. We surly want our children, grand and great grand to enjoy the natural resources that we are fortunate to have at the moment and already we have environmental education programs but we need to reach out to a wider audience. And finally I pledge to work hand in hand with steak holder communities to identify alternative forms of lively hood so that they can assist us in achieving our vision of sustainable use of resources. I realize that they too deserve to live comfortable lives and to have the financial resources to provide an education to their children. These are some ways that I believe can take tide to another level.”

Celia Mahung, Executive Director of TIDE.

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