BTB Joins International Year of the Reef Initiative

The ICRI International Year of the Reef 2008 is a worldwide campaign to raise awareness about the value and importance of coral reefs and threats to their sustainability, and to motivate people to take action to protect them. The IYOR ad-hoc committee for Belize was created to over see year long program of events designed to effectively communicate to target audiences and partners, the value and importance of the Belize Barrier Reef Complex and its significance to the region and world. The committee is comprised of a collaboration of Governmental and Quasi Governmental Agencies, National and Non-Governmental Organizations as well as International Partners namely: The Fisheries Department, Forest Department, Belize Tourism Board, Association of Protected Areas Management Organizations (APAMO), Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT), the Belize Tourism Industry Association (BTIA), the University of Belize (UB), the Meso-American Barrier System Project (MBRS), United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Oak Foundation, Conservation International (CI), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Smithsonian Institute. International Year of the Reef (IYOR) 2008 is being spearheaded by PACT and was launched locally on Monday March 17th, 2008 at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts.