Mention Belize and most people conjure green thoughts – images of thick rainforest canopies, lush and filled with unexpected living treasures. And well they should. The Belize Rainforest provides habitat for 877 known species of animals including jaguars, ocelots, armadillos, tapirs, howler monkeys, kinkajous, manatees and crocodiles. Toucans, scarlet macaws, and huge jabiru storks, as well as 500 other species of birds soar through the vine-trailed jungle, and over 4,000 species of flowers, including 250 kinds of orchids, bejewel the trees and forest floor.

Tropical Rainforests comprise only 7% of the planet yet harbor over 50% of the world’s species.

Until recently, 80% of the Belize Rainforest and her creatures thrived under government protection. Sadly, that no longer holds true. Foreign logging companies from China, Japan and Indonesia have begun clear-cutting thousands of acres of rainforest, reaping enormous profits by exporting rainforest timber to the international market. American and European land speculators have burned, bulldozed and destroyed many more thousands of acres of rainforest to create citrus, cocoa and banana plantations or doomed cattle ranches.

Like so many other ill-considered schemes that shaped our global economic crisis, the land speculators disregarded rainforest reality in pursuit of the bottom line.

Although the Belize Rainforest appears to be the sort of place where one could drop a few seeds and expect an abundant harvest, that appearance is deceptive. In truth, the Belize Rainforest is typical of most tropical rainforests. The lush canopy disguises the rotting vegetation and thin layer of low nutrient soil from which it rises. Once the trees are burned or bulldozed, all that is left is a lifeless tract of dirt that quickly erodes. The grass that does manage to grow is sparse, wiry and incapable of sustaining the cattle trucked in to eat it. Ultimately, ranchers face two alternatives: rip out more trees to expand unproductive grassland or cut their losses and abandon their ranches. Plantation owners face similar problems and choices. Because the majority of Belize’s land speculators are European or American, economic woes place them in the double bind of watching their domestic real estate and their Belize speculations plummet in property value. A few are opting to sit on their investments hoping for property values to rise, many are filing bankruptcy and many more are selling their failed cattle ranches at bargain basement prices.

Green Lining

Certainly no one rejoices when property values hit bottom, however Belize’s real estate woes could be pivotal to restoring the rainforest. Failed, abandoned cattle ranches provide a perfect path for reforestation in Belize. They can be purchased for all-time-low prices, complete with the necessary infrastructure, such as access roads and buildings to house forestry workers. The ranches have already been cleared for pastureland, saving time and labor costs required for the reforestation process. Since labor costs are comparatively low in Belize and volunteers, including indigenous peoples, are readily available, restoring the Belize Rainforest is not simply cost-effective, it is one important, low-cost solution to global warming.

The Rainforest Trust considers the reforestation of Belize one of its main priorities and is working closely with the Eco-Protection Society in a determined effort to acquire failed cattle ranches. Savvy green investors also see the opportunity to venture into an enterprise that really grows.