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Plants are in a heap of trouble these days. They are dissapearing faster than the world of science can even find them all. The number one cause for this sad state of affairs (species extinction) is habitat loss. Here at BBG we thought it would be a good idea to tell visitors about some of the wonderful habitats we have here in Belize and what they can do to keep them around.
So far we have...
Savanna
These days rainforests get lots of attention thanks to the lush plants and cute, furry animals that live in them. In the meantime, areas like savannas, which have few trees with what seems like just a lot of grass often disappear without much sympathy. That's bad news for birds like the Jabiru stork.
The jabiru stork is a giant bird, 5 feet tall with a wingspan of 8 feet. The jabiru comes from Mexico to nest in the pine trees of Belize's savannas from November until July. Like Belize's national animal, the tapir, jabiru stork are threatened throughout their territory due to habitat loss and hunting. The Belizean savanna is a favourite nesting place of the Jabiru stork.
Life in the savanna is tough. The things that grow in the savanna, like caribbean pine, oak trees, craboo, cycads, palmetto palms, calabash and cowhorn orchids, are plants that can survive the cycles of drought, fire and the low-nutrient soil.
Developing tropical countries, like Belize, produce more and more of the worlds’ food. Huge amounts of tropical land including savannas are cleared to grow it. Help tropical savannas.
Buy from small, local farms and avoid imported produce and meat products.
Rainforest
The tapir is the national animal of Belize
and is protected in this country. Even with protection the tapir is
endangered due to the destruction of its habitat, the tropical
rainforest.
Tropical Rainforests are the forests located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn that get about 100 inches of rain a year. (hence the term rain forest). These forests make up less than 10% of the earth's landmass, but are home to two thirds of our planet's species. Such diversity means they provide us with many things we use on a daily basis such as medicinal plants, construction material, food products, cosmetics and more.
Although we rely on rainforests we are responsible for the destruction of 42 million acres of rainforest every year for agriculture, grazing, logging and human expansion. That means 137 species extinctions every day!
The sapodilla tree, a native Belizean, provides food for animals such as the howler monkey, and ocellated turkey. In turn they disperse the sapodillas seeds. We used the sapodilla tree for chicle, the original chewing gum. Chicle is harvested tree by draining the sap but not killing the tree. This is a good example of sustainable rainforest use. Sustainability means we can use a product without causing lethal damage to the tree or the delicate system in which it lives.
Find out the source of the products you use and buy only those that are harvested and produced sustainably.
Wetlands
Wetlands are amazing places. They can actually help slow down global warming because they store carbon (in plants and soils) instead of releasing it as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
But that's not all! Wetlands recharge groundwater (for many people this is their only source of drinking water) filtering fertilizer and pesticide run off and making it clean. They store rainwater and can help protect areas from large floods. Wetlands can be swamps, marshes, bogs, lagoons, and other areas where water covers the soil for all or most of the year.
If you want to preserve our wetlands here are a few tips.
Make sure your vacation wasn't at the expense of valuable wetlands. Mangroves are often cut down and wetlands dredged to make docks for cruise ships! Support beach hotels that don’t clear mangroves. (There are plenty in Belize that don’t!)
Don't build on wetlands, they don’t make very stable foundations anyway!
Reduce the amount of pesticides and fertilizers that you use on your lawns and gardens.
We have chosen a lagoon to represent Belizean Wetlands at BBG. It is a wonderful place for
observation. As a source of fresh water visitors of all sorts stop
by or reside here. Dragon flies, ducks, grebes, jacanas, frogs,
herons and fly catchers can all be seen in an
inland lagoon area.You can relax in a shady bird blind and watch it all. (Birders! Bring binoculars to the garden there is a bird count of over 300 bird species around the garden)
