The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE) was established in 1997 by concerned community members to combat illegal fishing and illegal harvesting of the West Indian Manatee. TIDE has grown to manage four Protected Areas and employs over 35 full time staff and many community stakeholders. TIDE hopes to continue to advance community participation in conservation for the benefit of all Belizeans and the region as a whole.
Vision
Toledo’s healthy ecosystems support biodiversity, and communities, whilst contributing to national sustainable development goals.
Mission
To strengthen natural resource management and community stewardship within the Toledo landscape and seascape.
Long Term Goal
Toledo has healthy, functioning ecosystem services supporting biodiversity and resilient communities
Get involved with TIDE
We offer opportunites to Donate, Volunteer, Intern and experience Protected Areas within Belize.
TIDE Protected Areas
TIDE’s work focuses on the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor of southern Belize, which encompasses the Port Honduras Marine Reserve and the six watersheds that drain into it. This 830,000-acre ridge-to-reef landscape stretches from the Maya Mountains in the West to the coral reefs of the Snake Cayes in the East.
The Payne’s Creek National Park comprises 38,000 acres with multiple habitats such as Pine Savannah, Grasslands, Estuarine Lagoons, Mangrove Forests and Broadleaf Forests. It hosts endangered species such as the Jaguar, West Indian Manatee and the Yellow-Headed Parrot. (Read more)
An integral part of the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor, the PHMR encompasses an array of vital habitats, with inshore, patch and fringing reefs, seagrass beds and 138 mangrove cayes, supporting an important fishery for local traditional users. (Read more)
Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve is the most southern of the marine protected areas in Belize, and encompasses the southernmost tip of the Belize Barrier Reef. The reserve covers an area of 321,623.5 acres (approximately 130,156 ha) and contains fourteen palm-fringed sand or mangrove cayes, fringe reefs, natural lagoons, and key spawning aggregation sites (SPAGs). (Read more)
Currently, TIDE manages 20,488 acres of private lands, strategically located within the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor. Some of these TIDE Private Protected Lands (TPPL) were purchased as part of the ‘Debt for Nature Swap’ agreement between the governments of Belize and the USA. The ‘Debt for Nature Swap’ allowed Belize to swap certain debts they had to the USA in exchange for funding forest conservation activities in Belize. The TPPL are managed under the Tropical Forest Conservation Agreement. (Read more)
TIDE Program Areas
Our research and monitoring is designed to provide the information we need to make sound management decisions. – (Read more)
TIDE’s Education and Outreach Program is designed to empower local residents to be better environmental stewards. (Read more)
Without the support and involvement of the communities surrounding TIDE, we could not hope to achieve our mission. (Read more)
TIDE has a responsibility to protect and manage the natural resources within its protected areas for the benefit of present and future generations. (Read more)
