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(Stop 05 of 21)
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SLATE CREEK PRESERVE (Stop 05 of 21) |
| Slate Creek Preserve (SCP) is a community-based non-profit organization that is actively involved in the conservation of the habitats around Slate Creek and Upper Barton Creek in the Cayo district and the areas bordering this approximately 3,750 acre protected area. Thus Slate Creek Preserve is functioning as an important buffer for the adjacent Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve and forms a wildlife corridor between the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest to the north and the Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve to the northeast. The most important functions of Slate Creek Preserve are community involvement, education and research. | |||
| Slate Creek Preserve is special in that within its boundaries lie creeks that play an important role in the watershed of the Belize River Valley. |
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| The Slate Creek Preserve organization is comprised of landowners in the area. The landowners voluntarily pledge to comply with land management principles. The management plan includes adhering to existing National laws concerning burning practices, practicing organic farming techniques (limiting use of herbicides and pesticides) and crop rotation. Animals, plants, birds and butterflies are protected within the Preserve and no hunting is allowed. Children are taught not to kill birds, lizards, and other animals indiscriminately with slingshots or guns. Responsible solid-waste management principles are taught, and sustainable practices are used by the landowners in regard to logging, cutting posts and harvesting leaves for thatch . | |||
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Located within the important watershed areas of Slate Creek and Barton Creek, SCP has an abundance of wildlife, plant and insect species. Jaguar, Puma, Ocelot, Margay, Baird's Tapir, Black Howler Monkey, Coatimundi, Agouti, and several species of bats are among the numerous mammal species. Parrots, toucans, hummingbirds, and many other birds are resident, and a healthy migratory population can be found during the winter and spring. The rare Keel-billed Mot Mot is nesting in the area. Biodiversity is great among the plant and insect species. Research is presently being done on butterflies and dragonflies within the area, as these are important indicator species of biodiversity. | ||
| Slate Creek Preserve has three main objectives: conservation, education, and research. All the objectives can be summarized under conservation of the environment through education and research. | |||
| SCP has been working in the local villages on an environmental education workshop and field trip program. School children from the village of San Antonio are brought regularly to the headquarters for the workshops. The children are taken on botanical trails and instructed on tropical hardwoods, medicinal plants, ecosystems, soils, limestone and karst features, micro climates inside and outside the forest, insects, and wildlife. |
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| Through education and research, conservation takes place. Rather than attempting to fence out the local people, which would be impossible, they are taught why it is important to conserve the rainforests. If people understand how the rainforest can benefit them, they are more likely to want to protect it. When they see that more money can be made by taking a tourist to see a live wild animal than by trying to sell the skin of one, they are less likely to kill endangered species. | |||
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If people can be taught other ways to make a living and better ways to grow vegetables, they are less likely to continue to cut down rainforests every year to grow corn in soil that will be depleted in two years time. Demonstration of the lost art of utilizing traditional medicines will not only decrease the cost of health care within families, but it will also foster their appreciation of the importance of preserving the biodiversity of the plant kingdom. | ||
Slate Creek Preserve intends to continue its program of conservation through education and research. As the local population grows in understanding, it is the belief of the members of Slate Creek Preserve that habitat and biodiversity will continue to be conserved through sustainable practices and that not only the immediate area, but the entire adjacent protected areas will enjoy long-term protection. In addition, local people will be taught improved means of earning a living and quality of life can be better for all. The Slate Creek Preserve organization was modeled after another community based preserve in Belize, the Community Baboon Sanctuary. |
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