Meanwhile, work on the dam is being continued by the Belize Electricity Company Limited (Becol).
Bacongo maintains that the government's approval of the Chalillo dam project ignored the results of an environmental impact assessment (EIA), endangering the habitat of the endangered scarlet macaw.
CARIBBEAN/Coral crisis. Coral reefs across the Caribbean have suffered a phenomenal 80% decline in their coral cover during the past three decades, according to groundbreaking new research by the United Kingdom's University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
The revelation will come as a blow to many Caribbean islands who are heavily dependent upon promoting idyllic tourism packages, with a strong focus on the 'pristine' diving element. The tourism industry has experienced a staccato post-September 11 recovery, to say the best.
The amount of reef covered by hard corals, the main builders of reef framework, has decreased on average from 50% to just 10% in the last 25 years. Although the majority of the loss occurred in the 1980s, there is no evidence that the rate of coral loss is slowing.
'The feeling among scientists and tourists has long been that Caribbean corals are doing badly, since many people have seen reefs degrade over the years. We are the first to pull information together from across the region and put a hard figure on coral decline. The end result has surprised us. The rate of decline we found exceeds by far the well-publicised rates of loss for tropical forests', said Toby Gardner, the lead author who compiled the data, and Dr Isabelle Côté, a specialist in tropical marine ecology in UEA's School of Biological Sciences.
The causes of coral decline are thought to include natural factors, such as hurricanes and disease, and man-made ones, like over-fishing, pollution, and sedimentation caused by deforestation, which smothers the coral. The consequences of disappearing coral are severe, ranging from the collapse of reef-associated fisheries, to dwindling tourism, to increased coastal damage sustained during hurricanes.
It is not all bad news, as Dr Côté explains: 'some areas in the Caribbean appear to be recovering.' However, she expressed concern that 'the new coral communities seem to be different from the old ones. We don't know how well these new ones will be able to face the challenges of rising sea levels and temperatures, that result from global warming,' she added.
FTAA. Heads of state of the Caribbean Community, Caricom, met US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick earlier this month to discuss the forthcoming Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). They asked for a phase-in period to allow their economies time to adjust to the hemispheric trade agreement. Zoellick said that the US would consider the request but insisted that the 2005 deadline to join the free-trade area will remain in effect.
MONTSERRAT/Eruption. A massive eruption from the Soufriere Hills volcano rocked the island of Montserrat on 12 July. About two-thirds of the material in the south eastern dome collapsed, hurling huge clouds of ash into the inhabited 'safe zone' in the north of the island. Since 1995, periodic eruptions at the volcano have caused considerable physical and economic damage to the island, destroying the capital city Plymouth in the south. Most of the population who stayed on the island moved to the northern so-called 'safe zone'.
End of preview - This article contains approximately 677 words.
Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article
Not a Subscriber?
Choose from one of the following options
