Protected Areas Managed by TIDE
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)
The value of the biological resources of this unique landscape has led to the designation of 12 protected areas. 75% of the landscape is fully protected, safeguarding 43 distinct habitat types and at least 50 species of international concern, from Baird’s tapir to staghorn coral.
Within this spectacular landscape, TIDE co-manages the Port Honduras Marine Reserve (100,000 acres) and the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve ( 321,623.5 acres) with the Fisheries Department. TIDE co-manages Payne’s Creek National Park (38,000 acres) with the Forest Department. We also manage over 20,000 acres of TIDE Private Protected Lands.
As the name suggests, the Maya Mountain Marine Corridor plays an important role as a biological corridor. Part of Belize’s Southern Biological Corridor, it connects two large blocks of intact forest – the Maya Mountain Massif and the lowland forests of southern Belize.
