A 2008 UNEP report on climate change in the wider Caribbean recognized Belize as one of the Caribbean nations with a significant level of forest cover. An earlier 2002 World Bank report on the ecosystems of Central America likewise recognized Belize as the Central American nation with the highest percent forest cover. The 2008 Little REDD Book of the Global Canopy Programme likewise highlighted Belize as a country with low deforestation and high forest cover.
Where, as is the case with many other countries, precise national estimates of forest cover and rates of deforestation have been lacking for Belize, a recent USAID-funded study in the context of the Regional Visualization Monitoring System (SERVIR) has sought to definitively assess rates of deforestation and extents of forest cover for Belize using publicly available satellite imagery stretching from 1980 to 2010 and supplemented by ample ground-truthing. The study, “Forest Cover and Deforestation in Belize: 1980-2010” was conducted by CATHALAC and NASA in collaboration with Belize’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, and shows how Belize’s forest cover has gradually declined from 75.9% in 1980 to 62.7% in 2010. As that decline has regional and international implications, among other conclusions the assessment explores how Belize’s extensive system of protected areas – covering almost 40% of the country’s land surface – has been effective in conserving the country’s forests. For instance, where over a quarter of forests outside of protected areas were cleared from 1980-2010, only ~6% of forests within protected areas were lost in the same period, with some loss due to pests like Dendroctonus frontalis. Read More
