The Government of Belize has permanently protected roughly 17,000 acres at Turneffe Atoll, signing the Turneffe Conservation Land Trust Deed of Mutual Release, Compromise, and Settlement on August 19 in Belize City. Under the settlement, the acreage remains national land under public ownership, held by the government in an irrevocable conservation trust. “These lands remain Belizean lands,” Prime Minister John Briceño said in the government’s release. “They remain under public ownership. And they are being secured permanently for present and future generations of Belizeans.”
The agreement strengthens protection for three flats-fishing habitats within the Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve, according to the release, which credits them with supporting bonefish, permit, and tarpon and Belize’s “multi-million-dollar flats-fishing industry.” The Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association will take on a role in managing the lands, with the Turneffe Atoll Trust continuing to participate. TASA executive director Valdemar Andrade said at the signing that the flats protections come “with immediate effect,” noting that a 2022 Turneffe Atoll Trust study put flats fishing at 6.7 percent of Belize’s GDP.
We spoke to Craig Hayes on Monday, and he added: “This is the culmination of a long effort, and I hope it is a stepping stone. More fisheries in Belize deserve the same protections.”
The settlement replaces an earlier deal signed under the previous government, one Briceño, who signed on the government’s behalf, said carried “certain legal issues that we needed to correct.” A deposit of about BZ$2.2 million made under that earlier agreement is being redirected, rather than refunded, to establish a University of Belize marine research facility at the atoll, and the Turneffe Atoll Trust has committed to helping the university mobilize up to approximately BZ$5 million more for marine research.
Craig Hayes, who established Turneffe Flats Resort in 1981 and serves on the Turneffe Atoll Trust board, has advocated for the atoll’s protection for decades; Briceño thanked him at the ceremony “for not giving up.” In its own release, Turneffe Flats says the settlement protects 99 percent of Turneffe’s seabed and prohibits dredging, overwater development, and mangrove clearing.
MidCurrent covered the designation of the 325,000-acre Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve in 2012. Fourteen years on, the settlement adds permanent land protection.
