Implementation of modest visitor fees at protected sites has been identified as a viable way to generate financial support for ongoing conservation. Stakeholder Perceptions
And in the jungles and reefs of Belize, stewardship is still a work in progress. Implementation of modest visitor fees at protected sites
Management of Eco-Tourism and Its Perception: A Case Study of Belize Established in 1985 as a private reserve to
stands as the flagship example. Established in 1985 as a private reserve to protect a significant population of black howler monkeys (Alouatta nigra), the CBS encompasses eight villages, approximately 170 landowners, and about 20 square miles of river corridor land. Membership is voluntary and requires landowners to leave a strip of bush along the river corridor as primary habitat for the howlers, protect trees along property fence lines to create an aerial corridor, and preserve food trees when clearing farmland. These management practices also benefit landowners by reducing erosion and preventing siltation. The future of Belize hinges on whether it
The future of Belize hinges on whether it can evolve from managing nature for tourists to managing ecosystems with communities . If it succeeds, Belize will remain the gold standard of eco-tourism for decades. If it fails, it will simply be another beautiful place loved to death by the very tourists who came to save it.