This is great to see.

I'm just back from Central America and one thing I noticed was that there were a LOT fewer fish than the last time I snorkeled the reef off Caye Caulker.

A ranger who I spoke with said it was a combination of overfishing (often illegal) and climate change. He said they needed more $$ for enforcement -- especially night-time enforcement to stop illegal fishing.

The much-visited 'Shark-Ray Alley' no longer had any nurse sharks. Apparently a couple of fishermen came in and cleaned them out some time ago, illegally. It's a brutal hit to tourism there.

I know that I was sufficiently disappointed in the snorkeling that I won't go back to Belize for some time. I look forward to hearing about reef recovery during management, but fear it's more of a key resilience-building strategy to help mitigate climate-related impacts.

Something else that I found absurd by the way:

The wind did not stop blowing -- STRONGLY -- the entire time we were on Caye Caulker. And of course the sun is exceptionally strong.

Yet, where does this small island get its electricity? A diesel plant!

This is where clean energy development funds can make locally important impacts that also serve to be more widely educational via visibility to tourists from around the world.

There is no reason that 1-2 wind turbines can't provide that little island with all the electricity that it needs. And that roofs don't have solar panels.

Of course the key question - where could such money come from..?

I agree, It's sad a top heavy wealthy elite have set in motion a seemingly irreversibly trend, of we are paying the price for in our environment.