On Friday, February 27, 2026, Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD) and the Belize Forest Department signed a 10-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the management and administration of the Las Cuevas Research Station (LCRS). The MoU officially permits FCD another round of management of the scientific research station.
“We can sign this MoU and walk away and know that the work will continue, and everybody will do what we have agreed to do in that MoU,” said Deputy Chief Forest Officer, John Pinelo.
Since 1994, the LCRS has promoted scientific research focused on sustainable forest management and biodiversity. FCD has been its legal custodian since 2014.
The Chiquibul forest serves as a watershed for the Belize River and is home to the headwaters of this river, which provides water to over 40% of Belize’s population. The Chiquibul National Park is the largest in the country, comprising 285,937 acres of terrestrial protected area.
It harbors the largest cave system in Central America, dreamlike waterfalls, natural pools, and a megadiverse ecosystem on par with globally important hotspots like the Amazon. The wider Chiquibul forest, which represents over 400,000 acres of broadleaf forest, comprises 17 ecosystems with over 662 species of plants and over 786 species of fauna recorded to date.
“If FCD were not present for all these years in those remote locations doing protection and conservation, what would the landscape be like today?” NGO Senator Janelle Chanona asked during her address at the adjournment of a Senate meeting in December 2025.
“Conservation organizations like FCD are not the obstacles to development, quite the contrary. They are part of the foundation that has made lawful access, safety, and opportunity possible in the first place,” she said.
The Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the Vaca Forest Reserve and Baldy Beacon-Cooma area located in the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve were formally signed and handed over to Rafael Manzanero, Director of FCD, during the ceremony.
“These SOPs formalize FCD’s roles and responsibilities in two forest reserves; from surveillance and monitoring to capacity building for farmers and gate management,” a release by FCD noted.
Minister of Sustainable Development, Orlando Habet, in his remarks, welcomed the signing of the MoU and said it ensures that research undertaken at Las Cuevas is properly vetted and in line with Belize’s conservation policies and laws.
“At the same time,” Habet said, “it recognizes the valuable role that Friends for Conservation and Development has played in supporting conservation in the Chiquibul.”
Chief Forest Officer Pinelo, in his remarks at the signing of the MoU, said, “We have trust in one another, we have confidence in one another, we have commitment in one another, but most importantly, we have respect for the various organizations that have an impact in this area and that manage this area.”
The Belize Network of NGOs congratulates its member, Friends for Conservation and Development(FCD), and reaffirms its continued support for the organization’s work.
