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The RBCMA is owned and managed by
Programme for Belize, a local NGO.
It covers about 100,000 ha
(hectares), which is about 4% of the whole country. Some of
the land, about 37,000 ha, had previously belonged to a private
logging company and was bought by the Coca Cola company to be turned
into an orange tree plantation. Following local and international
pressure by those who wanted the forest to remain, Coca Cola instead
donated the land to the project. Another part of the forest was
bought and donated by an NGO called World
Land Trust (WLT) based in Britain. The money was raised from
individuals, from companies such as Tate and Lyle and the Today
newspaper and from schoolchildren. It is still supported by WLT.
Left: map showing the area of the
RBCMA inside the black outline: Click
for a detailed map of the RBCMA (close the window to return)
there is also a map of the RBCMA on the WLT
website
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The
Rio Bravo Forest
The
Rio Bravo Forest
One
area where people are attempting to show how the forest can ‘pay
for itself’ in a number of different ways is the Rio Bravo Conservation
and Management Area (RBCMA). This area of forest is particularly important,
both to Belize and to the world as a whole. It is supported by the
Belize government and local authorities, by international Non-Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) and by the European Union. 
So,
what is Programme for Belize doing in this special forest
to earn money from it?