A LONG JOURNEY:
PROFILE OF BELIZE
A Record of 50 Years of
Research and Co-operation
Peter Furley and Neil Stuart
School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh
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October 2016
Figure 1: Goffs Cay a few years after Hurricane
Hattie had swept the island bare
Figure 3: The Governor National Day 1966
Figure 2: Belize City in 1966
Figure 4: National Day in the 1960s
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I. INTRODUCTION
In 2006 the University of Edinburgh and its associated institutions, notably the Royal
Botanic Garden, celebrated 40 years of research and involvement with Belize. It is
remarkable that ten years later, we are able celebrate a further milestone in the links
between Belize and various centres in Edinburgh along with other groups in the UK. The
UK Belize Association (UKBA) which grew from tentative beginnings over twenty years
ago, has now a distinctive place within the research and social community concerned
with Belize and not surprisingly has its strongest presence in London.
It is far easier to travel to Belize today than it was in the early 1960s, and it is perhaps not
surprising that the pace of research and interaction with Belize has quickened over the
years. The involvement of Edinburgh has also taken place alongside the evolution of
Belize into an independent nation with its associated development of a new capital in
Belmopan, the emergence of national institutions and the strengthening of existing ones
from incipient to fully operational organisations such as the University of Belize. In the
early days, we also benefited from the experience of many administrative and scientific
staff that had worked in the Colonial Service and had subsequently returned to live in or
around Edinburgh. Their stories for example, of the 1931 hurricane, the ground surveys
for the delimitation of the national boundaries or the rich history of the forest industry,
provided us with powerful images stretching back to the 1920s.
The type of research undertaken has also changed in emphasis. In the early years the
major supporting agency in the UK was the Overseas Development Agency (ODA), via
close links with the overseas staff at the Land Resources Development Centre (LRDC).
In the 1960s support was given for projects concerning the assessment of land and land
development projects. As the LRDC became progressively less politically-favoured by
the UK government, so the supporting agencies for projects shifted to the Research
Councils and to independent research agencies such as the invaluable Carnegie Trust, the
Leverhulme Trust and the Darwin Initiative, together with numerous smaller but
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enormously helpful organizations. Throughout this time however, we have been able to
maintain a tradition of project groups comprising undergraduates, postgraduates and staff
working across a range of environmental problems, particularly environmental and
ecological issues, as well as wider and more applied geographical themes to the mutual
benefit of British and Belizean participants. We have been fortunate to have the
opportunity to develop strong links with a number of individual Belizeans and Belizean
organizations and to work with the University of Belize, which acts as our local
counterpart and with which we have had a Memorandum of Understanding for many
years. From the earliest projects we have had the pleasure of working with Belizeans in
field research as well as cooperating in workshops, conferences and a variety of other
types of project of mutual concern. We have also been able to incorporate staff and
students from other parts of the UK and research organizations from other countries, and
we take the opportunity here to thank them for their valuable input into the research.
In Britain we have also played a leading part in setting up the UK- Belize Association,
and we are delighted to welcome participants to the annual meeting and to this 50-year
anniversary in Edinburgh. Belize has provided and still offers a marvelous field
laboratory and testing ground for many aspects of tropical research and especially
biogeographical concepts, and has acted as a highly successful and enjoyable launching
pad for numerous students. A list of the projects undertaken and participating members,
together with a publications list resulting from their work, is included in this report.
We should like to thank the many organizations and supporting agencies that have helped
us to mount projects in Belize and also the many individuals and groups in that country
who have not only helped us but have remained good friends and colleagues. We are also
grateful for the interest and continuous support from the Belize High Commission and
from London-based friends and colleagues especially from Barbara and Victor BulmerThomas. The list is too long to detail here but we wish to express our great appreciation
to all those with whom we have worked - and hopefully will continue to work in the
future.
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II. RESEARCH THEMES
While the focus of the research projects has naturally evolved, there has been a consistent
emphasis on land - its resources and utilization - although there has been an increasing
focus on the coastal zone in recent years. The first project in 1966 (truly an Expedition!)
was based in the Maya Mountains at the forestry camp at the Mai Lookout, not far from
what was then the fairly isolated village of San Antonio. It had been suggested by Charles
Wright that Maya Mountains possessed extremely old soils on the summits with land
surfaces that were not covered by later Jurassic or Cretaceous seas.
Figure 5 The Bald Hills near Cooma Cairn
We wanted to find out what effect this might have on soil properties and their relationship
to the vegetation communities. Millions of years of extreme weathering had reduced the
soils to infertile relics, providing meagre sustenance for the species-poor savannas. In
1968 and in later years, we had the pleasure of meeting and working with Charles in
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person - a charismatic figure full of stimulating ideas and energy. The first visit was only
a few years after the last major hurricane (Hattie) and evidence of storm damage could be
seen everywhere from the collapsed and damaged buildings in Belize City to the exposed,
tree-felled hills inland. The villages on the Western Highway had only recently moved up
from the Belize River as a consequence of the road being built some ten years earlier. We
were able to benefit from the wise help of Magnus Halcrow, a former Chief Agricultural
Officer in Zambia who was then the Manager of the Hurricane
Reconstruction Programme.
In those days it was still possible to be surrounded by a wealth of wildlife all over the
country, for instance jaguars, leaping gracefully over the small garden fence at Mai,
giving us a cursory glance before passing on their imperial way. Tapirs wandered
apparently aimlessly across the winding, butterfly-filled lane that was the Hummingbird
Highway at the time. The project examined soil-plant relationships over a number of
characteristic catena landforms over the northern section of the mountain chain including
the Bald Hills and Granite Basin. In this we were able to benefit from Sandy Crosbie’s
tropical experience in Africa and Bill Whitfield managed to finish a Master’s degree
despite arriving by boat taking some six weeks to reach Belize from Southampton. In an
epic dash northwards to the International Geographical Conference being held in Mexico
City in August 1966, we seemed to pioneer a route through the south of Mexican Yucatán
(now better known today as the conservation area of the famous ruins at Calakmul). At
the time officials in Chetumal could not tell us whether or not it was possible to cut
across the peninsular in a vehicle, and of course there was no metalled road northwards as
there is today, and the coastal Atlantic lagoons in Mexico had to be crossed by ferry (not
all of them made it as evidenced by the photo at the end). A shorter visit in 1968 was
concerned with land use in Toledo District and to set up links with the Ministry of
Education to produce a small (and first) Geography of Belize for junior schools. George
Price, the Prime Minister at the time, was a valuable supporter and willingly gave a short
introduction to the book. Getting to the southern districts of the country at that time was
often a lengthy business with the frequently flood-destroyed Southern Highway providing
a challenge to communication. Even the sections of the Western Highway between Belize
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City and Hattieville were frequently under water and were impassable for vehicles for
several days at a time in the rainy season. Most people still travelled south by boat inside
the barrier reef. However, Maya airways existed and provided a more rapid means of
internal transport for those in more of a hurry (not a good attitude in the tropics!).
A more substantial project followed in 1971 based in Belmopan, at the same time as the
government moved into their new buildings. We vividly recollect the party
accompanying the first Miss Belize ceremony in the new capital won, if remembered
correctly, by Miss Double Head Cabbage. We also had George Price as a close neighbour
and often met him delivering daily papers (no prizes for guessing which one) and
materials for the new arrivals. The main project was again mostly concerned with plantsoil relationships, but a significant addition to the programme on the village communities
within the Belize river Valley was organized by Ken Duncan, who had been with
Figure 6 Prime Minister George Price at the National Day Celebrations in Belize City, 1966
us as an undergraduate in 1966 and returned to lead an investigation into land use systems
along the Western Highway (later completing a Cambridge PhD based in El Salvador).
The sites investigated in the soil-plant study were located over the distinctive karstic hills
that surround Belmopan but which are now almost entirely cleared and occupied by legal
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(and spontaneous) settlements. The cone karst hills made a deep impression forming
characteristic features of the landscape as seen, for example, from the Western Highway
and along the Hummingbird Highway. In the protected basins in the lee of the hills,
enormous trees with some buttresses up to eight metres or more in length could still be
found in the less accessible areas and where they had been protected from Hurricane
Hattie.
Two main investigations were undertaken in 1981. The first was a re-survey of a 1971
transect, where one cycle of cultivation (by Belizeans who had worked with us earlier)
had followed the opening up of an access trail to get to the site. We were able to examine
the impact of this short period of forest clearance and typical milpa cultivation on the
successional re-growth of vegetation and in the restoration of soil properties. We were
greatly helped in the plant identifications by the presence then and in later expeditions, of
Jim Ratter, who was Head of Tropical Ecology at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh
(RBGE). The results were published in a special issue of Earth Surface Processes and
Landforms, which was designed appropriately, in memory of Dr. Marjorie Sweeting
(Oxford University) who had joined us for the first expedition in 1966. The arrival of
Guy Robinson in Edinburgh provided a different slant on the land issues, and he led a
group examining agricultural innovation by conducting a series of village surveys to
ascertain the uptake of new ideas. Smaller projects also included in the 1981 visit were a
survey of plant identification and plant uses by villagers at Bullet Tree Falls, Cayo
District, a study of the distinctive sascab (the powdery and chalky subsoil overlying
many of the limestone areas), and a study of the cohune palm in the Belize River valley.
This trip was memorable for the fact that we drove down to Belize from New York,
where a namesake of David Munro and head of the American Munros had most
generously provided us with a Cherokee jeep. This splendid vehicle was however, an
electronic nightmare when we reached those parts of Central America where technical
help was impossible; consequently the vehicle gradually seized up but nevertheless
managed to make the return journey in a state vaguely resembling the original.
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Figure 7: Butresses on a Ceiba pentandra tree
Figure 8: Karstic hills south of Gracey Rock
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The development of computer-assisted data base and geographical information systems
provided a new set of techniques for the study of agricultural geography of Belize. With
the aim of promoting a full national agricultural census, a central element of this work
was a sample survey of five rural communities in the Belize Valley carried out in
conjunction with the Agricultural Extension Service of the Belizean Department of
Agriculture.
Figure 9 Village surveys: Arenal
This work, which was essentially a ‘mini-agricultural census’, focused on the large
number of smallholders present, a group of farmers holding the key to the future of these
communities. In 1983 Guy Robinson returned with a group from Edinburgh together with
a large US Earthwatch contingent to make a further study of land use and agriculture,
which was followed up by a short visit by Peter Furley in 1985 in association with the
Chief Agricultural Officer and Agricultural Extension Service to examine the refugee
settlement at Valley of Peace and to set up the organization of the national agricultural
surveys. This research was then developed into the second Agricultural Census of Belize
with FAO and UK assistance. The primary data for the first Agricultural Census of Belize
had been published in two slightly contradictory reports, and we had been dismayed to
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find that all the raw data (in paper files) had been taken out and buried by an over-zealous
official. Amongst the many fascinating outcomes in addition to the census was a
registration list of farmers. This provided an insight into the cultural melting pot that
Belize had become by that time. The Mayan names were especially novel and
challenging to us, for example short names such as Cal are well known and one can
imagine why there might be a Hercules Bul, but the parents Bol must have had a very
bouncy baby to call their child Elastico. In addition to the valuable data collected in the
Census, there were additional themes such as land colonization and a study of agricultural
change in the Belize River in association with CARDI (the Caribbean Research and
Development Institute).
By 1986 the momentum for work in Belize had gathered pace and a large group of 24
from the UK assembled at Central Farm providing the base for an initial familiarization
and orientation (or as more correctly described by David Munro disorientation). This also
provided a forum for the British Biogeography Research Group to have an overseas
meeting and join in our activities. The work was divided into two, one group remaining at
Central Farm studying (mostly) lowland savannas partly to act as a comparison with
parallel work in Brazil, plus a range of soil and agricultural projects and research on
conservation and the secondary hardwood industry. The second group was based at La
Libertad in the north of the country and concentrated on detailed surveys of smallholder
sugar farming in conjunction with Belize Sugar Industries. This also provided the first
opportunity for work on spatial distributions using satellite imagery and GIS (later passed
on to the Land Information Centre to form the basis of the Belizean land mapping centre).
David Gray was largely instrumental in forging these links and his expertise later led a to
a post at the World Bank, where he continued to keep up his Belizean interests. During
the same expedition, a group under the direction of John Flenley (then at Hull University)
helped us in a palynological study of the Maya raised field systems at Nohmul near
Douglas Village, Orange Walk District. This provided an intriguing insight into Mayan
agricultural and land management, which became a recurrent feature of our
understanding of landscapes in Belize in all subsequent projects.
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Figure 10a Mayan drainage ditches at Nohmul. 10b Profile showing buried organic horizon on a
raised field system
The publication in 1987 of a small booklet entitled Research in Belize: Twenty One Years
of Expeditions 1966-87 highlighted the studies of nearly 60 people over more than two
decades. It also stimulated further interest amongst students at Edinburgh University and
in 1988 David Munro led a 15-member team of undergraduates carrying out a varied
programme of research projects ranging from aspects of health and education to studies
of fishing co-operatives and the citrus industry. A significant outcome of this expedition
was the presentation of a report to the European Commission, which had requested a
feasibility study for promoting ecotourism linked to the development of protected areas.
This work, which was carried out in association with the Ministries of Economic
Development and Natural Resources along with the newly formed Ministry of Tourism
and Environment, resulted in a major programme of European Union funding which
continues to this day.
Another important element of this expedition was a ground
checking exercise carried out by David Gray and Simon Zisman to test the use of satellite
imagery as an aid to vegetation mapping in tropical wetlands. Associated with this was a
pioneering study of coastal mangrove near Belize City prompted by growing pressure
during the 1980s to develop coast lands for housing and tourism.
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Figure 11 The ‘Cut’ through mangrove at Boca Bacalar Chico (Ambergris Cay) dividing Belize from
Mexico
Some preliminary work on the changing nature of protected areas had been undertaken,
firstly by David Munro in 1981 and later by Simon Zisman in 1986. The outcome of
these studies was the publication in 1986 of Simon Zisman’s Directory of Belizean
Protected Areas and Sites of Nature Conservation Interest, which was updated and
republished in 1996. Belize’s expanding system of protected areas and the attendant
threats posed by the economic development of mid-1980s, served to highlight the
opportunity to expand the use of geographical information systems as an aid to vegetation
mapping, critical habitat assessment and land management. Attention was initially
focused on the coastal zone and in 1991 a large research project with nearly 30 members
worked in Belize (with analyses lasting into 1992). The focus of this work was on
mangrove distribution, vulnerability and management. This project not only completed
remote sensing work and the generation of the first maps of the national mangrove
distribution together with a GIS data base, it also established 11 coastal transects and
three inland mangrove sites to check the remote sensing interpretations and to ascertain
the ecological and substrate variations. This developed into the first mapping survey of
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Belizean mangroves using remote sensing and GIS techniques, aided by David Gray and
Christoph Corves.
Preliminary observations were made on the resources and
management of these communities (some of the most extensive and least disturbed in
Central America) and Simon Zisman was able to use this experience to be taken on by the
Forest Resources and Management Programme as their Mangrove Officer. Later this was
to be followed up by a survey of Turneffe Atoll by Simon Zisman, Chris Minty and
Malcolm Murray. In the meantime Malcolm Murray and Simon Zisman completed
doctorates on environmental and socio-economic aspects of the coastal zone respectively.
An additional research strand in 1991 was undertaken by Bob Rees who had a small team
looking at nitrogen fluxes in some agricultural fields near Central Farm.
Interest in the coastal zone led to two ESRC-funded
projects designed by Peter Furley and George
Hughes: the first (threshold and carrying capacity:
a new taxonomy of tourism (1995-96) concentrated
on environmental issues and the interaction with
tourism,
and
the
second
on
self-reflexive
development of ecotourist policy, ran over 2-3 years
from 1997. The former examined the relevance of
the environmental and biological concepts and how
they might be applied to notions of sustainable
tourism. The work culminated in a joint workshop in
Belize
City involving
a
range
of
Belizean
organizations such as the Coastal Zone Management
Figure 12: The scalloped coastline
north of Belize City
Authority, the Tourist Board, various Ministries and a
number of NGOs. The second project was a larger
and longer piece of research which concentrated on the perceptions of tourists and the
extent to which their constructs of what they were experiencing matched their lifestyles at
home (they were mostly relatively affluent Americans), and to what extent this matched
the aspirations of the tourist industry in Belize.
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Figure 13 San Pedro at rush hour
The coastal zone interest was furthered by the
work of Clare Cavers (nee Muller), who worked
on the role of mangrove in the life cycles of
commercially important fish for a doctorate
(2002). This started off with a survey of likely
sites from the north to the south of Belize and
finally concentrated on Turneffe Island, in
conjunction with staff from the University of
Belize and Coastal Zone Authority, using the
research station on Calabash Cay run by UB.
In 1996 a further large expedition was mounted
by Chris Minty in the north of Belize, located in
Figure 14: Cycad in lowland savanna
(Photo from Sam Bridgewater)
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the Rio Bravo Conservation Area (Programme for Belize), using one of the houses at East
Gate as well as facilities at the restored Hill Bank station as a base. Links with the PfB
had been established earlier from 1989, especially during a consultancy workshop run at
Chan Chich with the assistance of Barry Bowen, the Belizean owner of the Gallon Jug
estate and of the Belikin Beer/Coca Cola franchise amongst many other enterprises. This
involved a variety of consultants from a wide range of specialisms, all gathered together
by John Burton (now running the highly influential World Land Trust). The 1996
expedition concentrated on surveying the non-forested parts of PfB lands, notably the
savannas and to a lesser extent the seasonally flooded communities along rivers and the
New River Lagoon. The forest areas had been the focus of work for the PfB by Nick
Brokaw, then working for the Manomet research station in Boston. These interesting
lowland savannas and hyper-seasonal shrublands, which had been largely ignored for any
agricultural and other economic interest, revealed a considerable diversity of ecosystems
and landscapes deserving more serious consideration and management.
Figure 15: Palmetto (Acoelorraphe wrightii) association in lowland savanna
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For some time we had been in contact with American researchers working in Belize and
Peter Furley and Simon Zisman managed to get to a research seminar they held in
Gainesville, USA, in 1993. As a result of this meeting, it was decided to hold an
‘international’ meeting in Belize the following year. This took place at the Belize City
campus of the University in March and attracted a remarkably large number of
participants. Despite many problems, the conference was a considerable success and the
environmental section, which was held over several days, resulted in three published
volumes of papers in the Journal of Belizean Affairs.
At an early reconnaissance stage during the 1991 project it was decided to try to get
across the Booth River lowlands to see the nature and extent of the seasonally flooded
vegetation. This preliminary survey aimed to find appropriate sites for the
palaeoecological work that we were trying to initiate through Ann Breen‘s Master’s
thesis. At that time, unfortunately, it proved impossible because of the depth of water and
difficulties of access. In March-April 1997 we were able to work with the Natural History
Museum (London) through links with Steve Blackmore and other pollen specialists
working on a NERC project. Both groups (NHM and ourselves) had memorable and
fairly fruitless treks to reach the Booth River lowlands from the west. In time, the Booth
River idea was picked up again as part of a project to study the environmental history of
northern Belize (1999-2000) that was funded by the Leverhulme Trust and led by Peter
Furley and Sarah Metcalfe with Malcolm Murray
as the key investigator. The
Leverhulme survey focused on environmental change over the Holocene period,
examining a range of proxy measurements (diatoms, sediments geochemistry,
tephrochronology) linked to various dating methods and pollen analysis. Field work
relating to this project started in March 1999 with a rapid survey of possible lacustrine
sites throughout Belize. Finally, the New River Lagoon and Honey Camp Lagoon were
selected for the main study, complementing Ann Breen’s doctoral research on diatom
associations for reconstructing past environments. A final survey of contemporary
diatoms was made in 2003 with collections taken from a range of fresh water sites
throughout northern Belize.
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Figure 16 Honey Camp Lagoon
The link with the Natural History Museum in London was subsequently strengthened in
several ways. Steve Blackmore, formerly Head of Botany at the NHM, was appointed
Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and Malcolm Penn, formerly on
the Masters’ course in GIS at Edinburgh, transferred to the NHM as a GIS specialist.
Working with Malcolm we were able to start an ambitious project in 1997 at Las Cuevas
in the Chiquibul Reserve in the southern Maya Mountains. Curiously, Peter Furley had
been there in 1968 when the site was occupied by the maverick American jaguar hunter
Littlejohn and his isolated family at a time when the main cave was still full of intact
Maya relics. He later returned as part of the consultancy group, when Las Cuevas was
being developed into a research station by the NHM, brought in to suggest research topics
appropriate to the area. A joint Edinburgh-NHM team comprising soil scientists and
botanists worked at Las Cuevas between 1997 and 1999, with the aim of following up the
detailed forest plot surveys undertaken by the Forest Management Project (part of the
larger Land resources surveys led by Bruce King who earlier had taken his doctorate in
geomorphology at Edinburgh) and benefiting from the comprehensive forest plots set up
by Neil Bird. Detailed surveys were made at different scales to see whether soil
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properties could explain tree species distributions. The surveys of Las Cuevas and San
Pastor, provided an impetus for other projects from the NHM and for the RBGE to
organize annual field trips for its MSc course in Biodiversity and Taxonomy.
Figure 17 Las Cuevas field station from the observation tower
Figure 18 Tree species distribution at the Las Cuevas Control Plot (graphic from Malcolm Penn)
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The Masters’ course at the RBGE stimulated a number of dissertations on Belize and also
a follow-up to the Joint Services Upper Rascapulo Expedition (including NHM staff and
a University member in Colin Macgillivray). Colin investigated the changes in soil
properties associated with different vegetation associations in this remote area, surveyed
under the direction of experienced Belizeanist, David Sutton (from the NHM), and the
results were later published in the environment series mentioned earlier in association
with the International Conference in Belize. A further post- MSc group traveled to the
Rascapulo in 2006 (Anna Baden and Tiina Sarkinen) with two other Edinburgh members
and local UB collaborators. They aimed to classify and map the vegetation of the area on
a systematic basis prior to the threatened flooding from the Chalillo hydroelectric
installation on the Macal River. The urgent need to conserve the Rascapulo basin for
conservation has accelerated with the gradual rise of floodwaters from the impounded
water from the Macal river system.
Las Cuevas also provided a useful base for a series of highly successful undergraduate
expeditions studying anuran populations in an area initially identified by Toby Gardner.
During the last two decades an increasing number of declining amphibian populations has
been reported across the world. These declines have often occurred in pristine areas of
native habitat and many have been linked to disease outbreaks precipitated by climate
change - heralding the claim that the impact of the human economy on the natural
environment is much more pervasive and damaging than previously thought. Despite this
concern, for much of the world we currently lack the long-term population data necessary
to understand the extent and causes of these declines. During the five years between 2000
and 2004 a team of undergraduate ecologists and biologists from the University of
Edinburgh have undertaken annual expeditions to the Chiquibul Forest in order to
conduct standardized surveys of amphibian populations at permanent breeding sites.
These data have represented an important contribution to the efforts of the Declining
Amphibian Population Task Force (DAPTF; IUCN Species Survival Commission) to
obtain a better understanding of the temporal dynamics of amphibian populations in one
of the most pristine areas of sub-tropical forest remaining in Central America. To our
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knowledge, the work of Project Anuran represents one of the longest running ecological
field projects ever coordinated by undergraduate students from a British University.
Figure 19 Agalychnis moreletii (photo from Toby Gardener)
The 1996 field projects were based at Hill Bank were organized by Chris Minty, who was
then working in the University with Peter Furley (and later transferred to the Royal
Botanic Garden in Edinburgh). This proved to be one of the larger projects undertaken
from Edinburgh, with a considerable number of undergraduates involved with a great
range of dissertation projects (one of which, by Sarah Selby won the major prize in the
UK for fieldwork). The major emphasis of the fieldwork was an assessment of the plants
and soils of the savanna areas within the Programme for Belize (PfB) - Rio Bravo
Conservation Area.
In 1997 students from Belize came to the Department of Geography at Edinburgh
University to advance their training in geographical information systems (GIS). This
coincided with the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that was held in
Edinburgh that year, affording an opportunity for the Prime Minister of Belize to visit the
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Department to view an exhibition and meet with research staff and Belizean students.
A reception held in the department the night before and attended by the Belizean Minister
of Trade and Industry also served to strengthen links between Edinburgh and Belize and
highlight the research work undertaken in recent years.
Over the last fifteen years, most of the research projects carried out in Belize by
Edinburgh personnel have been organized and directed by Neil Stuart and many were
based initially at Hill Bank on PfB land. The largest strand of this work were remote
sensing surveys of savanna vegetation (following up on the 1996 field studies), with an
increasing resolution of sensors and a more accurate positioning of ground features
supported by the improving accuracy of GPS during this period. Many of these ground
surveys were directed by Duncan Moss from the Ordnance Survey.
Vegetation
identification and classification was mainly led by Sam Bridgewater from the RBGE.
Sam Bridgewater and Chris Minty both spent periods as managers at the Las Cuevas
research station, and Chris Minty took over as Chairman of UKBA for some ten years
whilst Sam produced a well written book on the natural history of Belize from the
perspective of Las Cuevas and the Chiquibul forest.
Many projects since 2000 have utilized the experience of students and graduates from the
MSc course in GIS at Edinburgh University and in Plant Taxonomy and Biodiversity at
RBGE, who have run field courses to Belize each January. The GPS surveys have been
linked with the LIC and the Department of Lands & Surveys in Belmopan and to a
national programme to improve geodetic/cadastral surveying in support of land
registration efforts in Belize. Research conducted in the field during 2000, 2001, 2004,
2005 paved the way to a new generation of methods for mapping vegetation and
estimating biomass using radar imagery.
In 2006 Neil received the biennial Gilchrist Educational Trust award for geographical
fieldwork from the IBG. A group including Sam and Duncan returned to Hill Bank in
2007 to carry out detailed ground surveys with the help of MSc student Tom Jaas. This
data supported a new technique for more accurately estimating biomass using the newly
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launched ALOS PALSAR radar sensor, which Karin Viergever developed and wrote up
for her PhD.
Figures 20a and 20b Ground surveys of savanna vegetation in the Rio Bravo Conservation Area,
2007
Although the University of Edinburgh had a Memorandum of Understanding with the
University of Belize (UB) since the early 1990s, by which the results of Edinburgh’s
research projects were shared and often co-published with colleagues from Belize, the
University of Belize had been working to establish a capacity for conducting
environmental research with facilities and staff based in Belize.
In 2010 the UB-
Environmental Research Institute was inaugurated, with Belizean scientists Elma Kay
and Leandra Cho-Ricketts returning to Belize with their PhDs to become the founding
Co-Directors of this new facility. The first research grants that the ERI were awarded
were two Darwin Initiative grants from the UK Government. One of these was a Jaguar
study with Southampton University, whilst the second was a nationwide botanical study
of the savanna flora, which was awarded to Edinburgh University and the RBGE.
The Darwin Savanna Conservation Project was in many ways a realization of the need to
draw together a number of precursor botanical surveys to create the first national
checklist of the savanna flora, and to map the nature and condition of the remaining
savanna areas, which appeared to be declining and deteriorating. Led by Neil Stuart, the
project ran from 2009-2012 and combined the research of Peter Furley (Emeritus
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Professor of Biogeography), Dr Iain Cameron (PDRA) and Duncan Moss (FRICS,
Honorary Fellow) from UoE, with the botanical research expertise of Drs Sam
Bridgewater, David Harris and Elspeth Haston (Herbarium Curators) and Zoe Goodwin
(RA) from RBGE. The project included partners from Belize led by Dr Elma Kay,
Lecturer in Botany and Director of the University of Belize’s Environmental Research
Institute (ERI) and other partners including the Government of Belize and the Belize
Botanic Gardens (BBG).
The three year project mapped the savanna areas remaining in Belize in greater detail
than had been previously available. The mapping developed by Ian Cameron established
a new baseline for national conservation planning and local protected area management.
It revealed that over 10% of savanna areas in the country had been lost within the last 20
years. The mapping was adopted by Jan Meerman and used to produce a revision of the
widely used National Ecosystems Map of Belize. The mapping has subsequently been
used by a number of GIS Masters students including Theresa Fingler to analyse the
viability of the remaining ‘core’ areas of savanna and to quantify the areas of savanna
that have been lost to developments such as agricultural expansion and shrimp farming.
Figure 21 Ian Cameron, Jan Meerman, German Lopez and Zoe Goodwin present the new savanna
map to Elma Kay at University of Belize in 2010
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Perhaps most importantly, the new savanna mapping guided a systematic, nationwide
programme of plant collecting which Zoe and German extended into some parts of the
country where there had been little previous plant collecting. As a result of these surveys,
54 plant species were found for the first time in Belize. Savannas were found to contain
approximately 33% of the total floristic diversity of the country and 43% of national
endemic species. The findings from this research challenged the popular impression of
savannas as areas of low biodiversity and established the importance of this ecosystem to
the plant diversity of Belize.
Figure 22 Extensive national collecting, identification and cataloguing has significantly upgraded the
collection of savanna specimens in Belize’s National Herbarium
The new field data collected were combined with historical collections collated from
herbaria around the world to produce the first comprehensive botanical checklist of the
savanna flora of Belize and this was published in 2011. Over the three year period of the
project, the plant collections of the National Herbarium in the Forest Department in
Belmopan were comprehensively re-catalogued, re-housed into new cabinets and the
database cleaned and revised, to produce a world-class botanical reference collection,
which the ERI now helps to maintain.
The momentum of the Darwin Initiative project also enabled a number of related savanna
projects to move forward; prominent among these was a project led by Peter Furley
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which conducted soil surveys at many of the same sites used for the Darwin savanna
vegetation surveys. This concept of establishing paired vegetation and soil sampling sites
had begun with the soil surveys on the 1996 expedition conducted by Chris Minty and
Malcolm Murray. Between 2009-2011, with the help of students Rhoderick Milne and
Alex Trevaskis, and assisted by German Lopez and staff from PfB, Peter was able to
collect data from more than 30 additional locations throughout the country.
These samples were analysed in Edinburgh in 2012-13 by Sarah Beadle (now Donoghue),
who for her MSc dissertation combined these data with results from the 1996 soil plots,
and with earlier soil surveys from the savannas of Belize including those from the 1992
Land Resource Surveys by Bruce King and colleagues and some of Peter’s earlier soil
surveys from 1989, to produce a comprehensive database of savanna soil properties at 79
sites throughout Belize.
Together with interpretations of the value of these soils gained
by Robyn Haggis, who interviewed land managers in 2013, these data provide the first
nationwide assessment of the nature, spatial variability and prospects for economic use or
other more appropriate forms of management for the lowland savanna soils in Belize.
Given the pressures from increasing population in Belize, much of which is focused in
savanna areas, such scientific information will be valuable for informing instruments
such as the National Land Use Policy and associated assessments of potential land areas
for agricultural use.
Figure 23 (a) Soil surveys carried out alongside the Darwin vegetation sampling revealed contrasting
textures of savanna soils, from (a) very sandy soils in the north under pine, to (b) very clay rich soils
of the southern plains favoured by vegetation like the palmetto palm (here burnt by recent fire).
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One characteristic evident to us because of the longevity of our research in Belize, is how
several small scale or localized studies, such as the soil studies described previosuly, can
sometimes over time be consolidated opportunistically to produce results of greater reach
and significance. Another example is found in a series of studies of one particular
vegetation species, the palmetto palm Acoelorraphe wrightii (Griseb & H Wendl) ex
Becc. In 1996, for example, Rhoderick Milne, an undergraduate student wrote a first
study of the palmetto palm, describing its nature and rooting properties. In 2009, during
the Darwin project, Peter Furley obtained a Carnegie Grant to study the significance and
the biomass of this palm in more detail, recognizing that this fire-adapted palm is
potentially a species of significant ecological importance within the savannas, and also a
significant source of both above and below ground biomass. A follow up study by
Victoria Cho (a student from the UB-ERI) showed that the palmetto is also used locally
for a diverse variety of uses, from lobster traps to a material for house walls.
In our
latest Darwin Initiative grant, awarded in 2015, the palmetto palm featured once again.
The most current project by the University of Edinburgh of research and capacity
building in Belize is the Darwin Initiative Fire Management Project, which we are
implementing with the Toledo Institute for Development and Environment (TIDE).
After several recent projects and expeditions in the north of Belize, this marks our first
return to Toledo since the ESRC funded studies of the late 1990s by Peter, George and
Rosalind Duffy of community based ecotourism in Toledo (Although a Masters student
this year, Helen Duley, has just completed a study of the Toledo Ecotoursim Association
which revisits this earlier work and examines how different the Association is today).
The current Darwin Project (2015-2018) explores whether it might be possible to reduce
deterioration of the biodiversity in savanna woodlands in the south of Belize that is
ascribed mainly to intense wildfires which now occur annually in most savanna areas in
Toledo. It seeks solutions through an approach which involves building the capacity of
communities to reduce and control the intensity of wildfires, by providing training to
local community members in safe agricultural burning and prescribed burning to reduce
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fuel loads.
DFID, the sponsor for many current Darwin projects, is interested whether
poverty alleviation methods can also contribute to the protection of biodiversity. In this
case, we will explore whether creating opportunities for local communities to harvest
products from the savannas may increase their motivation to reduce and control
destructive wildfires, and hence protect biodiversity. The project involves collaborating
with previous partners such as the ERI and Forest Department, as well as new partners
TIDE and present and former staff from the Everglades National Park.
The Project
Officer, Cathy Smith will also undertake a related PhD examining the history of fire use
within these pine woodlands in Toledo.
Figure 24 (a) members from five communities bordering the Deep River and Swaysey Bladen Forest
reserves receive training in how to conduct prescribed burning of lands to reduce wildfire.
**************
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Throughout the past 50 years, those carrying out research in Belize have often taken the
opportunity to promote that country in a variety of ways. For example, an early
ecotourism feasibility study carried out in 1988 provided access to significant European
Union funding and Simon Zisman’s poster helped raise funds for much needed
conservation work. Peter Furley, David Munro, Chris Minty, Neil Stuart and many others
have given countless illustrated talks on Belize to audiences throughout the UK and also
engaged with the media by writing articles for newspapers or taking part in radio
broadcasts. Recent projects have also promoted the importance of Belize’s natural
environment to local Belizeans. The Darwin savanna project, for example, included a
significant component of public engagement, with an educational savanna trail created in
2010 at Belize Botanic Gardens to promote the biodiversity of plants and animals found
in savannas to primary school children, whilst a more extensive 5 km of savanna trails
was created in 2013 at the popular Tropical Education Centre at Belize Zoo.
Figure 25 Children from Sacred Heart primary school enjoy a trip to the savanna education trail at
Belize Botanic Gardens
‘Knowledge Exchange’ and ‘capacity building’ have become popular phrases in recent
years. The Scottish Government, for example, funded a workshop at the University of
Belize in 2006 at which members of Edinburgh University staff, including Iain
Woodhouse, Peter Furley, Neil Stuart and their students provided training in GIS and
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remote sensing.
Capacity building has been a prominent feature of both the Darwin
Initiative projects that the University has conducted in Belize. We hope it is also evident
that many of our projects, either implicitly or explicitly, have contributed to building
local expertise and the sharing of knowledge between Edinburgh and Belize.
Over the last 20 years, perhaps one of the most obvious examples of our interchange and
co-operation with Belize has been Edinburgh’s input to the formation and its strong and
continuing contribution to the Uk-Belize Association. The Association has grown from
very informal beginnings with the first meetings following the University of Edinburgh
Expeditions from the mid 1960s onwards. Initially the meetings were occasions simply to
report on the activities and exchange ideas. At the start there were relatively few
researchers in the UK working in Belize and discovering who they were and where to
find them took a remarkable amount of time. Gradually it became obvious that there were
more people working in Belize than we had realised, and in a host of different fields.
As a consequence of discovering the interests and activities of other people based in the
UK, it was agreed to host the first (still informal) workshop at the National Museum of
Scotland in Edinburgh in 1993.
This was partly triggered by the substantial programme
that had been running since the 1970s by the ODA and later more extensively by the
Land Resources Development Centre on Forest Planning and Management Project (the
Project Manager being an ex-Edinburgh PhD). The emphasis on the environment was
further stimulated by research projects being organised through the Natural History
Museum in London, particularly at Las Cuevas, and as a result Edinburgh and London
became the two main centres for organising the series of workshops and meetings after
1993. The London links were further strengthened through the presence of the High
Commission and the Institute of Latin American Studies.
The links with the Belize High Commission also helped to formulate the Association’s
Constitution – a very informal document – that was developed at the 2001 meeting at
Warwick University. Over the past decade the remit of UKBA has widened considerably
and all aspects of life in Belize are considered at the (near) annual meetings and at more
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social events organised mainly through the Belize High Commission. It is hoped that the
Association will evolve into the main focus for research and interactive activities between
people from the UK working in Belize and for Belizeans both at home and in Europe.
Saturday 1st October 2016 saw the 19th Annual Meeting held in Edinburgh, at which we
proudly celebrated 50 years of research by the University and recognized the contribution
of Professor Peter Furley in particular.
From the keynote address given by Professor
Charles Withers, the Geographer Royal for Scotland, as well as through the many papers
from other distinguished academics from universities around the UK, it was clear that the
work Peter began in 1966, as well as being an impressive personal academic
achievement, has also influenced the lives and the careers of so many students and a
generation of researchers, who have taken up Peter’s cheerful invitation to bring their
knowledge, experience and motivation, and apply it for the benefit of Belize.
Figure 26. The 19th UK-Belize meeting at the Institute of Geography at the University of Edinburgh
was an opportunity to celebrate 50 years of research by Edinburgh University in Belize.
Professor Peter Furley (centre) cut the birthday cake accompanied by Barbara Bulmer-Thomas of
UKBA (right) and (left) Laura Frampton from the Belize High Commission.
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I am sure that Peter believes that 50 years is nowhere near long enough to cover the
wealth of interesting research possibilities that exist in Belize. I am sure he thinks of
some opportunities that were not taken over the years - such as the possibility of setting
up permanent plots for ecological monitoring, which would now have offered a valuable
long profile of observations into the dynamics of natural systems. More prosaically, he
might have persuaded the university to have purchased land especially near the coast,
which would now be worth a small fortune and could have been a valuable conservation
resource. But, taking stock, his legacy has been to foster and develop perhaps the most
important natural asset – the people who live or work in Belize, either temporarily or
permanently, and who contribute the social capital that will continue to build our
collective ability to inspire further research and appreciation of this wonderful country.
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III. SUMMARY TABLE OF THE MAIN PROJECTS AND MEMBERS OF THE TEAMS FROM 1966 TO 2006
List of members (excludes local staff from Belize and excludes RBGE field trips with the MSc group in
Biodiversity & Taxonomy)
1966 (June to September)
Soils and vegetation of the Maya Mountains
Bob Burnett. Graduated geography 1966. Schoolteacher.
Ken Duncan, running an NGO in Peru. Graduated Geography 1967. PhD Cambridge University.
Sandy Crosbie, Geography staff, Edinburgh (Soil Scientist and Tropical Specialist). Latterly Head of
Department.
Peter Furley, Geography staff, Edinburgh. Tropical Soils and Biogeography.
David McKinlay, Graduated 1967. Worked for a time on the Geographical Magazine (London).
Marjorie Sweeting. Oxford University geomorphologist.
Bill Whitfield, Graduated Geography 1965. MSc Edinburgh University 1967. Soil surveyor with the
England & Wales Survey and latterly an independent Consultant.
1968 (Easter)
Preparatory survey for the Geography of Belize
Peter Furley (as above)
Chief Veterinary Officer
Chief Education Officer
Other Belizean members out of contact
1970 (July to September)
Soils and vegetation of karstic hills
Land use and smallholder agriculture in the Belize River valley
Ian Black. Graduated Geography 1971. Initially worked for British Transport
Chris Bull. Graduated Geography 1971. Senior lecturer at the University of Kent, Canterbury. [His son
read for an MSc in GIS at Edinburgh University in 2005].
Ken Duncan (as above)
Peter Furley (as above)
Walter Newey. Geography staff, Edinburgh (palynologist).
David Spellman. Botanist from St Louis University Missouri and Missouri Botanical Gardens. Worked
extensively in Belize and Central America afterwards.
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1981 (July to September)
Soil and vegetation dynamics
Agricultural change
Janice Darch. Geomorphologist. Worked latterly as Administrator for the Climate Change Unit at the
University of East Anglia.
Peter Furley (as above)
Iain MacInnes. Graduated Geography 1982. Well known piper and composer of pipe tunes, and producer
of BBC Scotland’s Pipeline Programme.
Fiona McTurk. Graduated Geography 1982. Chartered Surveyor, became senior partner at Rydens.
David Munro. Graduated BSc in ecology and resource management from the Department of Forestry and
Natural Resources then PhD in Geography, Edinburgh University, later a Research Fellow. Became
Director & Secretary of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.
Guy Robinson. Geography staff, Edinburgh Agricultural Geography. Professor of Geography, Kingston
University and then moved to Australia (Adelaide)
Karen Simpson. Graduated geography in 1982. Schoolteacher.
Clare Walmesley-White. Graduated Geography 1982.
Jim Ratter. Botanist on the staff at the RBGE. Officially retired - not that it makes any difference.
1983 (July to September)
Agricultural village surveys
Anne Bennett. Graduated in Agriculture 1984.
Guy Robinson (as above)
Gillian Rowland. Graduated in Geography in 1984.
8 US members of Earthwatch
1985 (Easter)
Preparatory survey for the Census of Agriculture
Peter Furley (as above)
Plus local contacts including the Chief Agricultural Officer and members of the Agriculture Extension
Service.
1986 (July to September)
Environment, ecology and conservation
Agriculture and socio-economic development
Jane Armitage. Graduated Geography 1987.
Adrian Cooper. Graduated Geography 1987.
Rosalind Cummins. Graduated Geography 1988.
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Janice Darch (as above)
Mick Day. Professor of Geomorphology, University of Wisconsin. Long time researcher in Belize.
Peter Furley (as above)
David Gray. Graduated Geography 1987. First group of MSc in GIS 1988. Later working for the World
Bank and lives in the USA.
Mike Helby. Graduated Geography 1986.
Mayda Henderson. Graduated Geography 1986.
Joanna Jackson. Graduated Geography/Botany, University of Hull 1987.
David Kinross. Graduated Geography 1987.
Sandra McLeish. Graduated Geography 1987.
Leslie McKie. Graduated Geography 1986.
David Munro (as above)
Clare Paige. Graduated Biological Sciences, University of Hull 1987.
Anna Prochazka. Graduated Geography 1986. Was going to cycle round the world.
Roland Randall. Senior Lecturer in Geography, University of Cambridge (Botanist).
Jim Ratter (as above)
Guy Robinson (as above)
Belinda Scarborough. Graduated Geography 1987.
Rona Scott. Graduated Geography 1987.
Frank Thompson. Graduated Biological Sciences, University of Hull 1987.
Richard Tipper. Graduated Agriculture 1986. Latterly worked in Mexico (for a PhD) and for an NGO in
Edinburgh.
Simon Zisman. Graduated Geography 1987. PhD (Edinburgh) in Belize 1994. Worked for RSPB and WSP
1988 (July to September)
Agriculture and conservation - Smallholder farming and the sugar industry
David Munro (as above)
Simon Zisman (as above)
David Gray (as above)
Undergraduates, Department of Geography, University of Edinburgh:
Claire Rohdie
Deborah Robinson
Emma Low
Sally O’Regan
Sheena Stone
Tim Morse
Bill Hughes
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Undergraduates, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Edinburgh:
Ruth Atkinson
Nicole Caetano
Undergraduate, Department of Biology, University of Edinburgh:
Madelaine Carrick
Undergraduate, Department of Economics, University of Edinburgh:
Nicholas Landell-Mills
Undergraduate, Department of Environmental Science, University of East Anglia:
Matthew Checker
1990 (September)
Rapid ecological methods for critical habitat survey. Meeting organized by Lou Nicolait, Center for
Environmental Studies, Belize.
Peter Furley (as above)
David Gray (as above)
First contact with the PfB group (Betsy Mallory, Manomet)
1991 (May)
Programme for Belize Consultancy Group; formulation of development programme. Meeting organized
by John Burton and PfB staff. .
Peter Furley (as above)
Simon Zisman (as above)
Local contacts: Joy Grant (Head, PfB Belize City), John Masson (Head, La Milpa Station), Charles Wright.
1991 (July-August)
ODA/OFI Mangrove survey
Peter Furley (as above)
Jim Ratter (as above)
Bob Rees. Soil Scientist at SAC, Edinburgh.
Sheila Ross. Graduated Geography and PhD (Forestry & Natural Resources) Edinburgh.. Formerly
Lecturer at Bristol University and subsequently moved to an NGO near Liverpool.
Chris Minty. Currently CEO of an NGO in Cornwall and Maya Enterprises (Belmopan).
David Munro (as above)
Simon Zisman (as above)
Sam Bridgewater. RBGE/NHM Botanist. Currently CEO of an NGO in southwest England
Ruth Atkinson. Graduated IERM. Worked at RBGE for a PhD. Helen Bisset. Graduated at IERM 1992
David Mann. RBGE diatom specialist.
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Neil Stuart. Edinburgh staff.
Kirsty Orskov. Graduate of IERM
Phillip Mathews. Graduate of Geography 1993
Malcolm Murray. Graduate Geography. PhD Edinburgh University 1995. Currently on the staff at Durham
University (IT Department).
Dave Cummings. Graduate Geography 1995.Currently directing and producing films.
Geoff Allan. Graduate Geography 1993.
Joanna Bullard. Graduate Geography and PhD Sheffield. Now University of Loughborough.
Frank McShane. Marine Biology MSc at Heriot Watt University 1992. Subsequently University of Fiji.
Kirsti Thornber. Graduate Agriculture 1992. Latterly at ECTF, Edinburgh.
Ian Harris. Graduate Geography 1993.
Sue Westoby. Graduate Geography 1993.
Harmer Dodds. Teacher in Edinburgh.
1994 (June-July)
Mangrove research - mainland
Peter Furley (as above)
Malcolm Murray (as above)
Simon Zisman (as above)
Mangrove research – Turneffe Atoll
Simon Zisman (as above)
Malcolm Murray (as above)
Chris Minty (as above)
1995 (April-May).
ESRC project 1: Coastal environment
Peter Furley
George Hughes. Geography staff. Tourism specialist.
David Thomas RA (latterly at Bird International, Cambridge)
1996 (January)
ESRC project 1: Workshop in Belize City
Peter Furley
David Thomas
(also Sue Pipes, ex MSc in GIS, temporarily working for PfB)
1996
(March)
Las Cuevas development plan (organised by Steve Blackmore, NHM) Peter Furley
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1992- 3
(ESRC Project 2) Environment and tourism in the coastal zone
George Hughes
Peter Furley
Simon Zisman
Rosaleen Duffy (RA). University of Lancaster, University of Sheffield since 2016.
1996 (July to September)
Booth’s River wetland and savanna survey (RBCMA)
Chris Minty
Peter Furley
Jim Ratter
Neil Stuart
Sam Bridgewater
Alicia Ibanez .Graduate MSc in Biodiversity & Taxonomy. Returned to Spain.
Kate Seal Graduate Geography. MSc in Environmental Science at Stirling University.
Claire Noonan, Graduate Geography.
Sarah Selby, Graduate Geography, MSc Cambridge (latterly working for an NGO in Oxford).
Andrew Rudge, Graduate Geography.
Tristan Marini, Graduate Geography.
Mike Bennett, Graduate Geography.
Anna Lake, Graduate Geography. MSc by Research Edinburgh. Works for DEFRA.
Emma Clarke, Graduate Geography.
Roderick Milne, Graduate Geography.
Malcolm Murray (as above)
Javier Corripio Graduate Geography. PhD Edinburgh (geomorphology).
Jo Lenthall, Graduate of SOAS. Recently on a short term contract with the RSPB.
Birget Gemeinholzer, MSc in Biodiversity & Taxonomy. Returned to Germany.
Diana Percy, MSc in Biodiversity & Taxonomy
Catriona Prebble (ex-Edinburgh Centre for Tropical Forests).
1998
GPS survey for LANDSAT image rectification
Duncan Moss Graduated MSc in GIS. Ordnance Survey.
Neil Stuart (as above)
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2000-2005 Anuran surveys, Institute of Ecology and Resource Management.
Phase 1 June-August 2000
James Humble
Toby Gardner
Phase 4 June-August 2003
Emily Fitzherbert
Iain Hawthorn
Nick Hill
Malamo Korbetis
Lorraine Williams
Jenny Diack
Phase 2 June-August 2001
Loic Lhopitallier
Toby Gardner
Antoine Lecocq
Emily Fitzherbert
Noberto Coc
Fiona Bucknill
Phase 5 June-August 2004
Neil Hart
Rachel Furlong
Noberto Coc
Andrew Gray
Mathew Coc
Nita Hyrkkanen
Phase 3 June-August 2002
Chris Mellor
Katie Finlinson
David Angel
Heather Anderson
Amelia Scott
Robert Forbes
2000
Programme for Belize. Ground truth surveys for 2001 Land Cover mapping of RBCMA
Sam Bridgewater
Duncan Moss
Neil Stuart
2000-2003
Environmental history of northern Belize (Leverhulme)
Peter Furley
Sarah Metcalfe
Malcolm Murray
Ann Breen
Simon Zisman
2001
JERS-1 radar backscatter survey of dense pine . RBCMA
David Mitchell. MSc in GIS
Neil Stuart.
Amanda Carlson (MSc GIS)
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2003 (April-May)
Contemporary diatom survey
Peter Furley
Ann Breen
2004
Testing Intermap X-Band data and DEM survey of Hillbank savannas.
Iain Cameron. Graduated MSc in GIS.
Ed Wallington. Graduated MSc in GIS and PhD.
Neil Stuart (as above)
2005
RICS Education Trust/ FIG topographic survey of Hillbank savanna
Karin Viergever (undertaking PhD),
Carol Hay. Graduate MSc in GIS.,
Ed Wallington (as above)
Duncan Moss (as above)
Neil Stuart (as above)
2006
RBG/University Rascapulo Expedition
Maria Baden Graduate MSc in Biodiversity & Taxonomy
David Bayly. Undergraduate in Ecology
Tiina Sarkinen Graduate MSc in Biodiversity & Taxonomy
Andrew Mathews Undergraduate in Ecology
Herve Vandrot
2007
Royal Geographical Society/ Gilchrist Educational Trust Expedition
Karin Viergever (undertaking PhD),
Tom Jaas (undertaking MSc)
Sam Bridgewater (as above)
Duncan Moss (as above)
Neil Stuart (as above)
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2009 Darwin Initiative 17-022 Conservation of the Lowland Savannas
David Harris (RBGE)
Elspeth Haston (RBGE)
Zoe Goodwin (RBGE)
German Lopez (ERI)
Ian Cameron (as above)
Dimitrios Michelakis (undertaking PhD)
Peter Furley (as above)
Alex Trevaskis (MSc Plant taxonomy)
Sam Bridgewater (as above)
Duncan Moss (as above)
Neil Stuart (as above)
2015 Darwin Initiative 22-013 Conserving pine woodland biodiversity in Belize through community fire
management
Jenny Chambers (MSc in GIS)
Aisling East (MSc in GIS)
Jamie O’Keefe (MSc in GIS)
William Roper (MSc in GIS)
Cathy Smith (Undertaking PhD)
Peter Furley (as above)
Sam Bridgewater (as above)
Duncan Moss (as above)
Neil Stuart (as above)
Smaller research projects:
Sibun River conservation corridors (2001)
Eleanor Hill . Graduate Geography
Alex Kent. Graduate Geography
History of the British military presence in Belize (2000)
Will Grant. Graduate Geography . Works for the BBC.
Joint Military Upper Rascapulo Expedition
Colin MacGillivray. Graduate IERM. PhD Sheffield.
Tourism in Placencia 2000:
Elizabeth Ross; Bruce Brately; David James; Katriona Miller
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IV. PUBLICATIONS, REPORTS AND DISSERTATIONS ON BELIZE
Allan Geoffrey (1992) A documentation of the problems associated with trying to accurately level and compare
transect lines
cut through the coastal mangrove swamps of Belize for an expedition sampling project, unpublished thesis, BSc
Geography,
University of Edinburgh.
Akers, R. (2007) A preliminary checklist of the vascular plants of the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary.
Unpublished thesis,
MSc in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants. University of Edinburgh/Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Armitage Jane (1987) Rural women in the Third World: an untapped potential, unpublished thesis, MA
Geography,
University of Edinburgh
Aubrey, Charlotte (2004). The impact of sustainable logging practices on gene flow dynamics of Mahogany
(Swietenia acrophylla) in a continuous forest.
MSc in Biodiversity and Taxonomy. University of Edinburgh/RBGE.
Barratt, T.J. (2002) Mixed pixel analysis of optical imagery of savanna vegetation in Rio Bravo Conservation and
Management Area, Northwest Belize. unpublished thesis, MSc in Geographical Information Science, University of
Edinburgh.
Beadle, Sarah (2014) Application of Cluster Analysis to Investigate Multivariate Spatial Patterns in Belizean
Lowland Savanna Soils. Unpublished thesis, MSc in GIScience, University of Edinburgh.
Bennett Anne K (1984) Aspects of pasture improvement in Belize, unpublished thesis, BSc Agriculture, University
of Edinburgh
Bennett, Michael, S (1997) An assessment of the effectiveness of community outreach and community programmes:
solving the ‘protected area-people’ conflict, unpublished thesis, BSc Geography, University of Edinburgh
Black, I (1971) Recent changes in the sugar-cane industry in Belize, unpublished thesis, MA Geography,
University of Edinburgh
Brately, B., Ross, C.E., James, D & Miller, K. (1993). The socio-environmental implications of mangrove clearance
in the Placencia area of Belize. Report of an Undergraduate Expedition. Edinburgh.
Breen,A (1998) A reconstruction of Holocene environmental change in north Belize. unpublished MRes thesis,
University of Edinburgh
Breen, A. (2002) Holocene environmental change: a palaeolimnological study in Belize. PhD. University of
Edinburgh
Bridgewater, S., Ibáñez A, Ratter J. A. & Furley, P. (2002). Vegetation Classification and floristics of the savannas
and associated wetlands of the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area, Belize. Edinburgh Journal of
Botany 59 (3): 421-442.
Bridgewater, S., Pickles, P., Garwood, N. C., Penn, M., Bateman, R. M., Porter Morgan, H., Wicks, N. and Bol, N.
(Date?) press). Chamaedorea (xaté) in the Greater Maya Mountains and the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Belize: An
economic assessment of a non-timber forest product. Economic Botany.
Bridgewater, S. 2012. A natural history of Belize: insights from the Chiquibul Forest and Las Cuevas Research
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Station. Austin: University of Texas.
Bridgewater, S., Ibáñez A., Ratter, J. A. & Furley, P. (2002). Vegetation classification and floristics of the savannas
and associated wetlands of the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area, Belize. Edinburgh Journal of
Botany 59 (3): 421-442.
Bridgewater, S., Garwood, N., Bateman, R., Penn, M., Bol, N. and V. Quiroz. 2004. Preliminary Xaté Resorce
Inventory for the Chiquibul Forest Reserve. Darwin Initiative Report for the Belizean government.
Bridgewater, S., Garwood, N., Bateman, R., Penn, M., Bol, N. and V. Quiroz. 2005. The Chamaedorea (xaté)
resource of the Chiquibul, Sibun, Manatee and Colombia Forest Reserves. Darwin Initiative Report for the Belizean
government.
Bridgewater, S., Garwood, N, Porter Morgan, H. & Wicks, N. 2006. Resource inventory manual for Chamaedorea.
Darwin Initiative Report for the Belizean government.
Brown Michael T (1991) The feasibility of a multi-sensor approach to change detection for monitoring forest
clearance in the vicinity of the Rio Bravo Resource and Conservation Area, Belize unpublished thesis, MSc
Geography, University of Edinburgh
Bull C J (1971) The role of the small scale citrus grower in British Honduras, unpublished thesis, MS Geography,
University of Edinburgh
Cameron, I. (2004) Using X-band interferometry to explore relationships between topography and vegetation
structure for an area of savanna in Northwest Belize. Unpublished thesis, MSc in Geographical Information
Science, University of Edinburgh.
Cameron, I.D., Viergever, K., Wallington, E.D., Woodhouse, I.H., Moss, D. and Stuart, N. (2005). Synthetic
Aperture Radar for neo-tropical savanna inventory and height retrieval. In Proceedings of 25th EARSeL
Symposium, Porto, Portugal, 6th-11th June, 2005.
Cameron, I.D, Stuart, N & Goodwin, ZA 2011, The Savanna Ecosystems Map of Belize 2011: Technical Report.
University of Edinburgh.
Cameron, ID, Stuart, N & Goodwin, Z 2011, Conservation of the lowland savanna ecosystem in Belize. Darwin
Initiative 17-022 project report. DEFRA.
Cavers, Clare 2004. Ontogenetic patterns of distribution in coral reef fishes, within mangroves of a Caribbean
atoll. PhD thesis.
Chambers, Jenny (2015) Mapping the Extent and Distribution of Palmetto Palm in Three Protected Areas of
Southern Belize Using Remote Sensing Techniques. Unpublished thesis, MSc in GIScience, University of
Edinburgh.
Chen, Long ( 2012) Land Use Change Detection of Lowland Savanna in Belize. Unpublished thesis, MSc in
GIScience, University of Edinburgh.
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Additional figures: (above) A ferry on the old Atlantic road to Mexico City that failed to make the
other bank. (below) It is not advised to leave project vehicles in the open in between visits.
(below right) An old engine at Hill Bank from the Gallon Jug timber line.
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