Green Hills Butterfly Farm

Or, one could look at them with complete disdain, and use colorful language to tell them about their immediate ancestors. Rarely have I seen success in educating the ignorant.

Sorry.

Chuck

Perhaps I am just persuasive Chuck but I often succeed and have converted a good number into customers. I think more likely the success is due to constant practice.

Tyson

It's worth noting, that Belize has not slid down to the lawlessness of its neighboring countries. Yes, it's a developing country, but it is a solid (although somewhat funny) democracy based on British Common Law. The literacy rate exceeds that of the USA! The Government is actually quite protective of natural resources, and if I do the math correctly, has a larger percentage of protected forest than does Costa Rica. Every Belizean child learns about natural resources in primary school, and all school kids participate in hand-on natural learning experiences. For example - they ALL spend a couple of days behind the scenes at the Belize zoo - seeing and helping rescued native wildlife first hand. Many of the "tourist" field stations that cater to rich american kids also have in-country programs where local high school kids spend a week in the bush learning about conservation. And natural tourism is about 25% of the economy - especially the upwardly mobile economy. In other words, there is widespread public awareness and support already in place for conserving the environment.

There are threats of course. Development on private lands continue to fragment the country's ecosystems. But the Maya Forest Corridor Project has identified strategies to keep ecological connections across the county intact as the economy develops. Most recently, the government pledged serious money to purchase parts of intact forest in the NE if a Mennonite agricultural developer would set aside plans to clear-cut significant lands in the region. It looks like that will work. The oft stated goal is to keep jaguar and puma populations across the county well connected. If they succeed, most forests will also remain connected for things like insects as well.

FYI, the real threats to forest and savanna in Belize are conversion of privately owned land to agriculture. Mennonites do most of the large-scale farming in the country, and their religious beliefs leave little room for conservation (you know - God gave us the Earth specifically to exploit and prosper). Industrial sugar and banana dominate coastal areas and continue to expand into savanna habitat. And Guatemalans do slash and burn in the protected forests on the western border - ultimately in the name of cattle production.

The government managed to accidentally create an incredible system of conservation oriented NGOs in Belize. When Belize became independent, it had few resources for managing parks and such. But as it created new protected areas, it sub-contracted the work out to groups like Belize Audubon, Program for Belize, Ya'axché Conservation Trust, TIDES and so on. Each of the groups has their won little geographic niche, but all are pretty well funded and spend a lot of time working with local communities for forest protection, sustainability, and education. Guatemalan intrusion into western Belize is reversing, primarily do to two NGOs working security along the border (with some help from Belize Defense Force).

So, back to the comment - "Hope he won't be shot by mining or wood companies" - it doesn't seem likely that a guy who purchased a well known up-and-running tourist trap and butterfly pupae export business located in the heart of the country is in much danger. As I used to tell my family about bumming around in Belize by myself, I feel one hell of a lot safer down there than I do at a rural gas station in southern Alabama...

john