This week CCSP took on the world of development. Development history, theory, and practice were all considered, often up close and personal. So why Development? Well, there’s a long history of colonialism to consider. A history of subsistence farmers turning to wage labor. Land acquiring, resource extraction, slave trades, displaced people groups, and disease exposure all form the roots of the need for what we today call development. So where do we go from here? What is “progress”? We have modernization, globalization, market based economies, cultures, histories, reciprocal relationships and the environment all swirling around in this soup of a society! Our class times took the “Barbier Trade-off” model into consideration to balance the biological, economic, and social systems. Whats more, we must balance the qualitative and quantitative dimensions. With an adaptive trade-off process that continually changes with the systems mentioned, our goals encompass a well-rounded development strategy. Yet the struggle remains: How does development become sustainable? Dr. Sara Alexander from Baylor University, TX, was able to tap into her previous research in Belize as a model of development for our class. She takes her interest of natural resource management into the world of social anthropology.
We explored tourism in depth on a wide spectrum. From “eco” to cruise ship style. What’s the difference? We considered questions such as: Who profits, who gets educated, how is culture portrayed, how are locals empowered, and what is the expense on the environment? We saw how an eco-lodge in Belize called Black Rock powers their facilities on rigged-up hydropower systems from the river. They even filter their own wastewater with gardens and pools on site, then use the nutrients for fruit plants that supplement the lodge’s dining menu! Such strategies allow guests to minimize their ecological impact and learn about the sustainable ways in which we can travel; working along side the ecosystem instead of against it. Although not perfected, lodges that claim to be “eco-tourism” or “responsible tourism” (Both foreign and locally owned) strive to employ local Belizeans and empower education and upward job mobility simultaneously. While the idea is great, eco-tourism’s dilemma is often that its business is usually with low spending guests in rrelatively low numbers.
In contrast, we also visited the Belize cruise ship terminal. Here 800,000 tourists are estimated to travel through each year. A hot spot of commerce, the terminal had four diamond sellers, a pharmacy, and a plethora of gifts. Although the numbers are high, the duration of each stay is only a few hours, much less than overnight guests. High numbers of guests also means a high concentration of food and waste, as well as a high fuel cost for quick tours around the country. How will the environment cope?
Another excursion we took was to the Community Baboon Sanctuary in Bermudan Landing. Here a community effort is at work conserving, educating, and empowering. Privately owned properties have agreed to leave a portion of land forested. When 50m are left in one yard adjacent to another 50m in the next yard, we have 100m of forest! This infrastructure allows enough forest habitat for several troops of Black Howler Monkeys, or “Baboons” in their Creole name. When there comes a break in the forest, “Monkey bars” are tied between the patches to allow movement for the Howlers! Tourists, groups and researchers utilize the trails that weave through the community. Surely the Sanctuary contains the biological, economic, and social systems from the “Barbier Trade-off”. After part one of Sustainable Community Development, we’re full of yet more questions having just scratched the surface, but at least we’re one step closer to comprehending “sustainable”.
We explored tourism in depth on a wide spectrum. From “eco” to cruise ship style. What’s the difference? We considered questions such as: Who profits, who gets educated, how is culture portrayed, how are locals empowered, and what is the expense on the environment? We saw how an eco-lodge in Belize called Black Rock powers their facilities on rigged-up hydropower systems from the river. They even filter their own wastewater with gardens and pools on site, then use the nutrients for fruit plants that supplement the lodge’s dining menu! Such strategies allow guests to minimize their ecological impact and learn about the sustainable ways in which we can travel; working along side the ecosystem instead of against it. Although not perfected, lodges that claim to be “eco-tourism” or “responsible tourism” (Both foreign and locally owned) strive to employ local Belizeans and empower education and upward job mobility simultaneously. While the idea is great, eco-tourism’s dilemma is often that its business is usually with low spending guests in rrelatively low numbers.
In contrast, we also visited the Belize cruise ship terminal. Here 800,000 tourists are estimated to travel through each year. A hot spot of commerce, the terminal had four diamond sellers, a pharmacy, and a plethora of gifts. Although the numbers are high, the duration of each stay is only a few hours, much less than overnight guests. High numbers of guests also means a high concentration of food and waste, as well as a high fuel cost for quick tours around the country. How will the environment cope?
Another excursion we took was to the Community Baboon Sanctuary in Bermudan Landing. Here a community effort is at work conserving, educating, and empowering. Privately owned properties have agreed to leave a portion of land forested. When 50m are left in one yard adjacent to another 50m in the next yard, we have 100m of forest! This infrastructure allows enough forest habitat for several troops of Black Howler Monkeys, or “Baboons” in their Creole name. When there comes a break in the forest, “Monkey bars” are tied between the patches to allow movement for the Howlers! Tourists, groups and researchers utilize the trails that weave through the community. Surely the Sanctuary contains the biological, economic, and social systems from the “Barbier Trade-off”. After part one of Sustainable Community Development, we’re full of yet more questions having just scratched the surface, but at least we’re one step closer to comprehending “sustainable”.
The waste management system at Black Rock. This waterfall aerates water coming from the septic tank and wetland and puts it into a pool with more filtering plants.
Up close and personal with Howler Monkeys!
"What? Termites are edible? They taste like carrots??"
The "town hall meeting" gathered everyone from different walks of life. From ranchers, loggers, bankers, teachers, locals, environmentalists, botanists, archeologists, and even activists, this role play came to life on Thursday night. With background research about our characters, we had plenty to dispute and dialogue concerning the issues surrounding development in Belize. To build the road and develop industry and agro-forestry? To support archeology? Conservation and species richness?? How to decide?!
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