Many of Belize’s villages experience unreliable access to water and variable water quality. The Technology Action Plan proposes a pilot project to establish a rudimentary water system that will benefit 19,500 Belizeans. Depending on the project’s success, the technology will be extended to the remaining villages.
Belize is located in northern Central America facing the Caribbean Sea and has a coastline that makes up more than half the country’s borders. Offshore lies an extensive reef system, the largest part of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Agriculture and tourism are Belize’s key sectors, with tourism and services contributing over 60% to GDP and agriculture employing almost a third of the population. The rising sea levels are harming offshore aquaculture and in particular the coral reef, an economic calamity, as the reef is estimated to attract 80% of the country’s tourists. On land, the rising sea levels are claiming beaches and threatening the coastal zone where much of the country’s population, agriculture and infrastructure are located.
Belize completed its TNA in 2017. The TNA proposed an enabling framework that aims to install eight Marine Environmental Monitoring stations. With an installation price of about USD 180,000 and annual running costs of about USD 90,000, these stations will help protect aquaculture by curtailing the risk of coral bleaching and will also help protect the coastal zone.
Belize’s TNA contributes to the following Sustainable Development Goals:
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