Welcome to the neighborhood!

Meet Alvin Loredo, fisherman, contractor, tour guide, and common laborer – a jack of many trades. Earlier this year, Alvin worked with EcoLogic to help install fuel-efficient stoves in two communities in the buffer zone of the Sarstoon-Temash National Park in Belize as part of EcoLogic’s binational work between Guatemala and Belize. I recently had the pleasure of speaking to Alvin on the phone to hear first hand how the work went, and why he is so committed to his community.

Alvin giving the lay of the land after a boat ride up the Sarstoon River.

Alvin explains that he first heard of EcoLogic about 10 years ago when he served as a board member to EcoLogic’s partner in Belize, the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM). He accompanied EcoLogic on a learning exchange to Honduras to see projects we were implementing, including the installation of fuel-efficient stoves, and learn directly from community participants in the area. Alvin said when he first walked into the home of family with an EcoLogic stove he was blown away by how clean the inside of the kitchen was, which he described as “white”. In a region where, dirt floors and open-pit fires are the norm he could not believe his eyes.

“I was like, wow, where do you people cook? The pots were shining and I wondered where the smoke was and then I said to myself: the people of Barranco need something like that, too. Since that trip to Honduras, it has always been my dream to get the stoves to Barranco and Belize so that people can see that there are techniques to help us live a little longer.”

So, almost 10 years later when EcoLogic called for his help, Alvin jumped at the chance.

Alvin presenting at a press conference to denounce oil exploration in the Sarstoon Temash National Park.

Alvin was raised and lives in a fishing village on the coast of Belize called Barranco. The population here is roughly 160 inhabitants and it is the coastal gateway to the Sarstoon Temash National Park which is threatened by oil exploration and drilling. Full-time employment is hard to come by in this remote coastal village, but Alvin gets by. He supports his family of three daughters and one boy, through daily labor and fishing the coastal waters. “I know them [the communities] from my heart and would be willing to assist them however I can,” said Alvin.

Installing the fuel-efficient stoves took Alvin about one month. First, he would visit each family in the evening to make plans for the following day’s labor building stoves.

“At around 6 in the morning I would wake, share a cup of good, strong coffee with the stove technician and then go to the first home.” They would then assess the levelness of the area where the stove was to be installed. The “family helper” would begin mixing the sand and cement for laying the blocks and wait for it to set. At that point they would go to the next house to set the foundation. At about midday Alvin would return to the first house to fill the area with mud and red clay, soak the bricks, stomp it down, and make another mix of clay to fill the hole. After that the team would place the outer bricks and plaster the outside to make the stove smooth. This stove design uses about 90 bricks and takes a full day’s work.

“The women could hardly wait to use it, but we told them they must wait 40 days for the bricks to cure. If they use the stove before that, the bricks will crack.”

Here is a recently installed stove in Belize, much like the ones Alvin was helping construct.

Alvin expressed his heartfelt thanks for the work EcoLogic has started in the area he also said it is his hope that it will continue. “There are many more stoves that these communities need. We need to spread the love to as many families as we can.”

Alvin’s island-style charisma, loyalty, and love for his land have made him a leader in his community. He fishes where his grandfather fished, he farms where his grandfather farmed and he does his best to protect the natural resources that the people of Barranco and the next generation depend on.

- Gina Rindfleisch, Program Officer for EcoLogic
Gina manages EcoLogic's fundraising activities targeting individual donations. Prior to joining EcoLogic she served for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua working in environmental education and holds a BA in environmental studies from Long Island University. 

A Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Conserving natural resources is one of the most important things to do and advocate for in life. However, when one wishes to balance the conservation of nature and the needs of a community ’s livelihood, the solutions may not be simple and the approach cannot be uncompromising — especially when there is no alternative source of income for most of the poor coastal communities other than that derived from available natural resources. EcoLogic’s work in the trans-boundary area of Sarstun and Amatique Bay is in some ways a typical situation, but it is even more challenging because there are two communities with distinct social, cultural, and political identities, in this case Belizeans and Guatemalans.

A busy sea 

It was a typical maritime trip across the Belizean and Guatemalan border, sailing on a boat rented from a local fisherman known as Wicho. Wicho is a Guatemalan national but grew up on the Belizean Coast, and so he is fluent in English and Spanish.

The sun was setting, but the sea was getting busier. Many men and boys from the lower Sarstun River down to the San Juan village, often in teams of 2 or 3, were tending their nets. “Nowadays a family may need to have more than one net to supply their basic needs since the catch is not as good as before,” explained Wicho.

As the day winds down, the fishing speeds up.

The tides weren’t as high as they normally are when we travel in the afternoons. As we got closer to the Barra Sarstun community, two young children (about 7 years old) came out sailing on a little pirogue – a kind of small canoe – on their own without any adult. I was amazed and asked Wicho how parents can allow their children to sail on deep water like this without any adult with them or life jackets in case of emergency? Wicho explained that this is their home, their road, and play ground. They are already used to it.

Children sailing their pirogue in their backyard. 

This statement sounded exaggerated but it also seemed to be true when we learned that, the many people in Sarstun community don’t have land. Most of their houses are built right above the water. Some homes may be 30 feet off the edge of the river, because all the lands beyond that line are private properties. The people who reside here depend almost entirely on fishing and have no other livelihood alternative. This has caused marine resources in the region to deplete at an alarming rate.

The mission of EcoLogic here is to promote sustainable fisheries management, so there will be healthy fisheries for generations to come. As a way to build trust with the communities and a follow up to our ongoing technical assistance, EcoLogic staff participate regularly in the meetings of Fisherfolk Committee. 

Aquaculture initiatives allow for fisherfolk to sustainably harvest bluegill fish.

What is a “Fisherfolk Committee”? 

Also known as “Comite de Pescadores” in Spanish, the Fisherfolk Committee is a community association of fishermen who decided to come together to solve conflicts and form a body that represents the community before the local authorities and other stakeholders. In a general sense, fisherfolks are looked at as either people or a group whose lives depend on fishing. Whether you are on the Belizean or Guatemalan side, fisherfolks present quite different features:

Sarstun-Guatemala: the Sarstun region was traditionally populated by native indigenous people; however, land scarcity has pushed many other ethnic groups to migrate towards these coasts in search of livelihood opportunities, making this area a mix of Maya Keq’chi, indigenous and Ladinos. According to the “Comite de Pescadores,” their fish stock has declined to almost five times less than what used to be their catch per unit effort in the nineties. As the human population increases, the fish stock decreases. This pushes many of the fisherfolk to cross the border and fish in the Belizean waters, which triggers ecological concerns and resentment from the Belizean side.

Barranco-Belize: traditionally known as the major fishing community in southern Belize, Barranco fisherfolk are people of African origin known as “Garifunas”. Fisherfolk here are mainly descendents of the Garifuna who relied mainly on fishing for their subsistence. But since the fishing stock declined, most of the youth left the country to look for jobs in the United States, while others try to cope by combining fishing and farming. 

A look down the Sarstun River showing just how close the two sides can be at certain points 

The fisherfolk’s issues 

Over the last decade, there have been tensions between the two communities of Barranco and Sarstun. The first accuse the second of crossing the border illegally and depleting their resources. Not only fish are concerned here, but also the illegal extraction of timber and non-timber products in the Sarstoon Temash National Park, a Belizean protected area designated a Ramsar site due to the critical importance of the wetlands and their resources. The Sarstun fisherfolk on the other hand, find it nearly impossible to avoid fishing in Belizean waters since the stock in their shores can no longer suffice to feed their fast growing population. “If we don’t cross the border, how will we feed our kids?” explained one of the fisherfolk in Barra Sarstun.

What are we doing at this “hot spot”? 

EcoLogic has been working together with local communities and non-governmental organizations to conserve these precious natural resources while helping them solve their disputes through dialogue. Given the socioeconomic and political context, EcoLogic has recently reviewed its strategy to combine conservation tools with finding alternative, ecologically friendly livelihoods for the concerned communities.

Phew - that's the project in nutshell! We are ready to tackle this project head on and so are the communities.

- Jean Claude Mbazumutima, Coordinator of the Belize-Guatemala Binational Project
As coordinator, Jean-Claude oversees EcoLogic's efforts to promote sustainable ecosystem management and cooperation for a binational project spanning the Guatemalan and Belizean communities on either side of the international border along the Sarstun River.