GLADDEN SPIT & SILK CAYES   

LAUGHING BIRD CAYE    

PLACENCIA LAGOON

FoN protects two wonderful Marine Parks and keeps a researching eye on the Placencia Lagoon. Our Rangers are also our Ambassadors for Tourism. Besides monitoring attendance and collecting admission tickets, they are responsible for making sure that all visitors to the Reserves have a safe and ecologically-sound experience, working closely with the tour guides to ensure that everyone follows the guidelines and ultimately has a great time.

Good management, however, requires feedback, and FoN has a broad array of routine monitoring protocols of all the ecosystems around Placencia, with responsibility for managing both Laughing Bird Caye National Park and Gladden Spit Marine Reserve, in place already. FoN is managing, processing, and evaluating its own management effectiveness with WWF-sponsored tools, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping. These tools help to assure the future of our protected areas for generations following us.

FoN has made considerable strides in developing its conservation infrastructure, including:

Trained and Equipped Rangers to Monitor Protected Areas:  Rangers man a fleet of FoN boats to carry out their enforcement duties. Most of our rangers are trained as Belize Fisheries Officers and are all PADI-certified. Often they dive with the biologists to help them count fish, lobster, conch, or coral. They also assist with installation of moorings and other buoys. Outfitted with the basic gear required to do the job - radios, dive gear, and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) units - their reassuring presence is felt as soon as visitors venture inside their zone of protection.

Ranger Station and Research Center:  As a base for its operations on the world-renowned Belize Barrier Reef, a designated World Heritage Site, FoN acquired a majority ownership in Little Water Caye, a small caye strategically close to both Reserves. FoN constructed a solid and beautiful ranger station, educational facility, tourist facilities, and a 300-foot pier.