..NEWS

Traveling in Belize
There is always another adventure

Traveling in Belize to learn about the forest industry and maritime history, continues to be high on our list of priorities. We have taught boat building and woodworking at Chaa Creek eco-lodge since 2000 when we offered to help owner Mick Fleming build a canoe for la Ruta Maya Belize River Challenge. The blue plastic tarp which kept the rain off that first canoe mold has since been replaced with a well equipped workshop - the Chaa Creek Canoe and Woodwork shop. Trained carpenters now supply the lodge with furniture and fixtures as well as the odd canoe and kayak, using local woods. One of Chaa Creek’s talented wood workers, Marcos Ortega, has traveled to Peterborough to study with Ted in our shop for the last two summers. He has been learning to build sprint racing canoes, assists with teaching classes and came to Yellowknife with us last summer to help build Persephone.

The canoe race in Belize is the most popular sporting event in the country. The last canoe we built, with help from our friend Greg Rossel, has been declared the fastest and most efficient hull for this spectacular 4 day race. In 2006 the top seven canoes (made of woodstrip or Kevlar) were all taken from our ‘Maaga Ting’ hull (Maaga means really skinny). Although we will be in Australia during this years race we will be keenly interested in the results. Good luck to all the teams!

On our way to Honduras via Belize last Christmas we stopped in to visit the Ya’axche Conservation Trust in southernmost Belize. YCT is managed by a community board of local participants. YCT owns a large tract of pristine forested land and works within the local mayan community to develop and implement sustainable agricultural and forestry practices. Mahogany is being planted for long term investment interspersed with faster growing products such as organic cacao and xate. The impact of this additional income for the farmers is already proving substantial. Unlike Canada, in Belize indigenous people do not have rights to the land they have lived on for centuries. Foreign interests often purchase the land for tourist development which further marginalizes the local people. The communities involved with YCT hope that by showing the government that they can be responsilbe for the land and can use it to improve their economy, they may continue to occupy it. Most of the local population relies to some extent on farming and forestry. Several conservation groups have purchased tracts of land in an attempt to protect the fragile ecosystems and preserve it for future generations.

It was not difficult to once again convince Eric and Brenda at Soft Science to donate their services to make an educational dvd about YCT. In May 2006 we spent an intense week filming in the remote southern villages. You can learn more about the YCT trust at www.yct.bz

We were able to collect the soundtrack using a local musical group – even if it meant ‘borrowing’ the battery out of a school bus to run the lights. There is no electricity in this part of the country but that does not bother Eric – he is a wizard with wires. One of the best memories I have is of watching Brenda clutching her camera, zooming off on the back of a motor scooter with one of the Rangers who was chasing a fire burning on the reserve.