Ministry of Sustainable Development Wants to Tackle Climate Change Crisis through Education

The Government of Belize is looking to fortify its efforts to combat the adverse effects of climate change. One of the initiatives that will be implemented involves forest restoration campaigns.  The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management is aiming to have more involvement from the younger population and is hoping to capture their attention through education. Minister Orlando Habet explains that while the government is looking to spearhead these projects, it will also need participation from the private sector.

Hon. Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development: “It doesn’t mean to say that the government itself will do all of it, will be the ones who have to coordinate, get that information so that the private sector is encouraged to be a part of it, the NGOs can be a part of it so we’re looking at a restoration of degraded lands, most of them from agriculture use that are no longer productive so we get something out of it instead of just having it out there because eventually they can become like a desert so you want to reforest them. We have areas of mangrove that we’ll also be planting mangroves to restore that area that has been diluted from the mangroves. We have the forested areas especially some of those areas that were given out as logging concessions and now have very little logs where we can go back and see if we can find some seed trees because the trees that you plant have to be native to the area so that you don’t affect the biodiversity.”