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Rennel Burgos

Ecology

07/30/2016

Reflection on the trip:


Our journey towards Hill bank Rio Bravo was safe, this place is also known as the program for
Belize a non-profit organization which was established in 1988 to encourage the conservation of
the natural heritage in Belize and promote wise use of its natural resources. The program of
Belize ensure to establish practical applications of its principles for the conservation and
management area of Rio Bravo. As result of their principles they have secure 260,000acres of
forested land because their main goal is to conserve the tropical rain forest. Weve learned that
people who tend to damage the environment by pollution, deforestation and other human
activities tend to support this program by adopting an acre scheme. This scheme is supposedly
used to replace the damage industrial company have done to the world (Carbon Seq.). It is really
absurd but in one way in those help conserve our tropical rainforest and also provide jobs for
Belizean people. The program for Belize is also used to encourage schools for conservation of
our rainforest and ecosystems; they promote ecological ethics for students in all levels of
education in Belize. As a result of it that is why we went to this trip at Rio Bravo, to look at how
important conservation is for everyone. On our journey before reaching Hill bank Rio Bravo, I
noticed that large areas of land were cleared by the Mennonites for agricultural usage. The
difference is extremely noticeable because as you enter the conservation area for program of
Belize you notice the green of the rain forest. Its history is fascinating because most areas of hill
bank at Rio Bravo were colonized by people who were logwood and mahogany cutters; whom
eventually had the rivers filled with this logs/trees. One of the guides named Marcos mentioned,
that it is said that rivers were filled all the way across with logs. Whereby people would walk on
the logs to reach across rather than going all the way around. So you could also imagine the

Rennel Burgos

Ecology

07/30/2016

types of species in this area were forced to live or had died or probably killed. The Rio Bravo
Conservation and Management Area is home to 200 species of trees, 390 species of birds in
which 25 are migratory, and 70 species of mammals in which a certain amount of that 70 species
of mammals are bats. The Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area is the largest private
reserve in Belize, the largest protected area, and the largest non-governmental land. At Hill Bank
we noticed the use of electricity came from solar energy in which batteries are charged and also
composting toilets are used in one of the facilities we had available. Water came from a well and
the place is really comfortable just as you are in your home; its more peaceful, relaxing and
good temperature.
There are many species of trees around Rio Bravo such as the poison tree, cha-kaa, royal palm
trees and others. The bird watch was a great experience it was the first time I had the opportunity
to use a scope for bird watching, it allowed us to see the birds at a close view through the scope;
some species we saw are vultures, yellow head, humming birds, woodpecker and a hawk. The
night walk was also good even though we didnt get to see much animals except for deers,
spiders, geckos and scorpions. But we did learn how to seek animals during the night, with a
flash place high up on your shoulder pointing at a distance allowed us to identify shiny green
eyes which are eyes of herbivore animals, shiny white eyes being from insects such as spiders
and the red eyes was from predators. The trip was wonderful, the people giving us hospitality
and food were kind and generous, I believe everyone had a great experience and for sure we
were able to identify the different things we had learned in the class of Ecology. I believe there
should be schools which would educate students with ecological ethics and give them an
experience or have them visit the Program for Belize.

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