June 2025

News & Events

Belize Fund hosted a two-day Media Tour to some of Belize’s most iconic marine protected areas, on June 26–27, 2025.

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Over June 26–27, the Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future hosted a two-day Media Tour to some of Belize’s most iconic marine protected areas — Gladden Spit & Silk Cayes Marine Reserve, Laughing Bird Caye National Park, and the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve. We were joined by representatives from 7 News Belize, Love FM, News 5, Hot Off The Press, San Pedro Sun, and Climate Spotlight, who got a front-row seat to conservation in action. Day 1: At Gladden Spit and Laughing Bird Caye, journalists heard from our grantee partners: They also took to the water to snorkel and experience the vibrant marine life these MPAs protect. Day 2: The tour continued to Hunting Caye in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve, where shared insights on enforcement, biodiversity protection, and expanding Belize’s ocean protection zones to 25%. Through its Grants Award Program and Government Strategic Allocation, the Belize Fund supports the stewardship of 14 MPAs covering over 612,000 hectares — funding local innovation, strengthening enforcement, and ensuring long-term sustainability for generations to come. This media tour helped connect storytelling with science, giving journalists a deeper look into the people and partnerships shaping Belize’s ocean future.

News & Events

Announcing the Winners of our Ocean Awareness Poetry Contest

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🎉 Congratulations to the Winners of our Ocean Awareness Poetry Contest! 🐚🌊 We’re proud to celebrate the young voices who used the power of creative expressions to speak up for our oceans. Under the theme “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us”, these poems captured creativity, care, and a call to action about the ocean’s beauty, power, and importance in our lives, and why ocean health matters. A heartfelt thank you to all participants who inspired us with your words and passion! 💙 Standard 4 1st Place – La’Briah Dawson 2nd Place – Josse Lattibadare 3rd Place – Susana Penner Standard 5 1st Place – Anthony Quan 2nd Place – Eryn Peters 3rd Place – Juliana Belisle Standard 6 1st Place – Dylan Teul 2nd Place – Conner Ferguson

News & Events

Upcoming information sessions on accessing grant funding

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📢 We’re inviting all interested individuals to join our upcoming information sessions this July to learn how to access grant funding through the Belize Fund’s upcoming Call for Proposals, opening in August 2025. 🌊🇧🇿 These sessions will walk you through the application process, share details on funding opportunities, and help ensure you’re ready to submit a strong concept paper. 🗓️ Mark your calendars! Don’t miss this opportunity to engage, ask questions, and explore how your work can help protect and sustain Belize’s marine and coastal resources. 🐠🌍

News & Events

Belize Fund’s 2025 Ocean Awareness Poetry Contest

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In celebration of Ocean Awareness Month, the Belize Fund is launching a national poetry contest for primary school students under the World Ocean Day 2025 theme “Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us.” This contest invites young ones to think about the ocean’s beauty, power, and importance in our lives, and why ocean health matters. Through poetry, students will explore how wonder leads to care, connection, and action for a more sustainable future.  Contest Duration: June 16 – 23, 2025  Winners Announced: June 30, 2025  Eligibility: Open to students enrolled in Standard 4, 5, and 6 in any primary school in Belize.  How it Works:  Each participant will write an original poem on this year’s theme and submit a video reciting the poem (no longer than 60 seconds). Poems may be recited in English or Belizean Creole.  In their video recorded poem, students should clearly express:  Rules and Guidelines:  Judging Criteria:  Prizes:   Winners in Standard 4, 5, and 6:  Disclaimer:   By submitting an entry, participants agree and grant permission for full use by the Belize Fund to be displayed, distributed, reproduced, and created as derivative works of the texts, in whole or in part, in any media currently existing or subsequently developed, for any educational, promotional, publicity, exhibition, archival, scholarly, or all other standard purposes of the Belize Fund’s communication activities and product development related to Belize coastal and marine environment. 

News & Events

Update from the 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France!

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The first-ever Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Conservation Trust Fund Community of Practice was held, bringing together the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, Micronesia Conservation Trust, Niue Ocean Wide Trust, SeyCCAT, and our very own Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future! As our Executive Director Dr. Leandra Cho-Ricketts shared: “It was great to meet other SIDS CTFs who share similar challenges and experiences. We discussed the creation of a Community of Practice to bring SIDS CTFs to the forefront, and how we can engage multilaterals and donors for a place at the table to access funding directly, to mobilize this to communities on the ground.” With record ocean heat and acidification threatening marine ecosystems worldwide, this collaboration couldn’t be more urgent. The Community of Practice represents a unified force of island nations leading the charge for ocean health. Together, we’re working to make sure small nations like Belize get the funding they need, and that the money reaches the communities driving local action for our ocean every day.🌐➡️🏝️ This is what ocean leadership looks like: small islands, big impact! 🏝️✨ 📌 Special thanks to Kate Brown for capturing the energy of the session. Participation in Seaside Chat at UNOC At the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) Seaside Chat, Dr. Leandra Cho-Ricketts shared how Belize is pioneering sustainable ocean management through innovative financing models and data-driven approaches. She highlighted the Belize Fund as a private Conservation Trust Fund (CTF), established in March 2022 to manage conservation payments from Belize’s Blue Bond. As the first CTF of its kind born from a sovereign Blue Bond deal, the Fund serves as a critical financing mechanism to help Belize meet its marine conservation and blue economy goals, operating with transparent, independent governance and aligned with national strategies such as the Marine Spatial Plan and Blue Economy Strategy. Dr. Cho-Ricketts emphasized the importance of ocean accounts in tracking progress, ensuring transparency, and unlocking sustainable financing opportunities. These data systems support measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) of investments and pave the way for emerging financing mechanisms like blue carbon and biodiversity credits. She also outlined the Fund’s impact to date: In advancing 30×30 and ocean finance, the Belize Fund goes beyond project funding, it enables systems change and multi-stakeholder governance. This includes financing for participatory marine spatial planning, legal designations of biodiversity zones, enforcement, ecosystem restoration, and community-based solutions aligned with national and global frameworks. She concluded with an important lesson: Getting funds to the ground is complex, requiring flexible and adaptive mechanisms to remain fit-for-purpose.

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