Conservation
Monkey River Watershed Association by Peter Essleman
BFREE is located in the headwaters of the Bladen Branch of the Monkey River, a large tropical river that discharges to the Caribbean Sea south of Placencia. Despite the pristine character of the headwaters the Monkey River watershed has been home to Belize’s banana industry for nearly 100 years, with particularly intensive cultivation since the…
Read MoreNew Rearing Pond at the Hicatee Conservation & Research Center
Designed to study the reproductive biology and to determine if the Central American River turtle could be bred in captivity, the Hicatee Conservation & Research Center opened in 2014 and was met with immediate success when, in the summer of 2015, the first seven hatchlings emerged. This was followed by five hatchlings in 2016, 84…
Read MoreBirds, Chocolate, Forests, and Allegheny College
Allegheny College students pose for a photo at BFREE during the Birds, Chocolate, Forest Field Course in May 2019. Written By, Beth Choate, Ph.D.Associate Professor, Environmental Science and SustainabilityAllegheny College BFREE’s Birds, Chocolate and Forests course provided students with a real life example of the complexities of conservation within the rainforests of southern Belize. Through…
Read MoreHerp Survey at BFREE
Article by, Iris Holmes This May, a group of researchers from the University of Michigan and the University of California, Berkeley, visited BFREE to do a survey of amphibians and reptiles. They worked for two weeks, both on the BFREE property and at Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. Between these places, they recorded 47 species.…
Read MoreBFREE Receives Porras Conservation Award
It’s not often international wildlife conferences hold their annual meeting so close to home. Fortunately, the International Herpetological Symposium (IHS) chose Belize City as the base for their 42nd gathering and we are so glad they did! The International Herpetological Symposium (IHS) provides a forum for the dissemination of information and research pertaining…
Read MoreNew Rearing Pond at the Hicatee Conservation & Research Center
Designed to study the reproductive biology and to determine if the Central American River turtle could be bred in captivity, the Hicatee Conservation & Research Center opened in 2014 and was met with immediate success when, in the summer of 2015, the first seven hatchlings emerged. This was followed by five hatchlings in 2016, 84…
Read MoreTeam Hicatee Competes in La Ruta Maya
By Jaren Serano The La Ruta Maya 2019 Belize River Challenge is considered one of the most gruesome races in Belizean history and it is the longest canoe race in Central America: a four- day event covering over 180 miles of Belizean river. Paddlers from all corners of the country and internationally converge at the…
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