Belize Botanic Gardens

1. Belize Botanic Gardens Ecotourism & Botanic Gardens

2. Belize Botanic Gardens P.O. Box 180 San Ignacio, Cayo Belize www.belizebotanic.org www.duplooys.com Email: judy@belizebotanic.org duPlooy’s Jungle Lodge P.O. Box 180 San Ignacio, Cayo Belize

3. History of duPlooy,s andBelize Botanic Gardens • When Ken and Judy duPlooy moved to Belize in 1988 with five daughters, the plan was to purchase land in the forest to build a small ecolodge. When we found a 20-acre cow pasture located on the lovely Macal River in Western Belize, we bought that instead and immediately started planting and building, opening the first 6 rooms and restaurant in late 1988. Since then building plans have been completed with a total of 18 rooms. • While building was going on, the neighbors were busily destroying the adjacent 45 acres by bulldozing and clearing, causing extensive erosion and general damage to the property. Their plan was to plant citrus. Having committed ourselves to organic growing, this was disturbing as citrus requires masses of chemicals to grow successfully. Finally in 1993 we were able to purchase the land and restoration was begun. • There was no intention at that time of starting a botanic garden and initial plantings consisted of about 100 varieties of tropical fruit trees to demonstrate to farmers that there is an organic alternative to citrus and bananas, two of Belize’s main crops. Ken also started a native orchid collection and began gathering Belizean palms and other plants. • In 1997, after taking a collection of Belizean plants to the Chelsea Flower Show and winning a silver medal, the decision to register the garden with the Government of Belize was made and Belize’s only botanic garden was officially begun with NGO status. At that time plant records were started, working back to 1993. Fortunately, we had kept collection records and with some outside help, were able to identify most of the plants.

4. duPlooy’s Jungle Lodge

5. Orchids, orchids, orchids • Ken duPlooy had a keen interest in orchids and a fascination for the great glass houses in the temperate world. He had gathered an impressive orchid collection in a nursery behind his house. When Brendan Sayers from the Irish National Garden, on an orchid collecting expedition to Belize heard of Ken’s collection he stopped by to see it. This began a collaboration with the Irish Garden and, many expeditions later, 20 new species have been added to the Belize list with one newly recorded. • At this point Belize Botanic Gardens needed a plan for the future. Funding so far had come from duPlooy’s Jungle Lodge and; while lots of people were hearing about the project and visiting, we did not charge admission. Quite a few visitors had given us donations and the lodge was doing well, so we were actually accomplishing quite a bit with very little money. • Ken drew up plans for the physical layout of the garden, including a wooden copy of a glass orchid house, several native habitat areas, visitors’ center, etc., all terrifying me, as I am the one who directs finances and the garden project seemed overwhelming to me. How would we pay for this?

6. Encyclia cochleata, Belize’s National Flower

7. Where, oh where, is Belize Botanic Gardens? Where, oh where, is Belize?To find out exactly see: www.mapbureau.com/usersites/belizebotanicOur location in a remote area 10 miles from the nearest town and the small population of Belize – 250,000in the entire country – plus the small number of visitors – about 150,000 total annually, made attracting crowds of visitors a challenge. Our lack of funds made it difficult to build fancy exhibits, visitors’ center, etc. so we kept our plans simple. Our goal was sustainability in five years. This is taking a bit longer than planned, but we are getting there. With Pared-down plans and a staff of seven, serious work was begun.First, with the help of Raleigh International Volunteers, trails were built and, to display native plants several Belizean habitats were planned. To date there are over 2 miles of trails with more under construction. Raleigh also did the main construction on our vine pergola which has been a site for weddings, catering and musical events. Starting in late 2004 a regular series of events will be presented. An orchid house, again with the help of Raleigh was built to house our growing orchid collection as well as other epiphytes and other native plants.Since native orchids are often small and not what people are used to seeing displayed, people who visit our orchid house will often ask, “where are the orchids?”. This is our opportunity to introduce them to orchids and their importance and also to explain CITES and CBD to them. There is a small experimental crop of vanilla in the orchid house to test it as a viable economic crop for Belize.

8. Belize Botanic Gardens

9. Plants of the Maya Lloyd Chan Shows a canistel or egg fruit Handmade dugout canoe or dory

10. Everyone Likes Medicine Trails • Since ethnobotany is “in” , not to mention its importance in today’s world, Belize Botanic Gardens needed to establish a medicinal trail. A “Plants of the Maya” habitat was built which displays plants used by the Maya people who first inhabited Belize. Maya people still inhabit Belize • and there are several important sites nearby. Herbal remedies made by a local organization are • Sold in Belize Botanic Gardens` gift shop. • In the previous photo Lloyd is holding a canistel or egg fruit which has medicinal uses and • Is good to eat. If you ever get hold of any, try a tradational American style pumpkin custard pie recipe. Mmmm! • You will also see a prototype of a dugout canoe. These canoes were used for herding logs down the Macal River and for trading until not so long ago. Belize was originally exploited for logwood used for dyes and later for hardwoods. Small versions of these canoes are still used for conching on the coast, mostly by garifuna people.

11. People in the garden Belizean Students planting a tree “to go”

12. Visitors In 2000 Belize Botanic Gardens was ready to charge a small fee to visitors. This coincided with write-ups in a couple of guide books so people soon started dribbling in. We needed to do other marketing in the area so we looked to Ecotourists, who make up a large part of the visitor base to Belize. BUT – Botanic Gardens are not generally perceived as “eco” destinations, so how would we attract this group of people who are genuinely concerned about environmental issues, sustainability and preserving cultures? We found out that this is because they like things to be “natural” and botanic gardens are normally in a contrived setting. So, we needed to market such things as gardens’ role in preserving biodiversity worldwide, let them know what we are doing in the community and how we are making ourselves sustainable. Volunteers A volunteers program has started and has helped our staff produce an education program for Belizean School Children. Our volunteers pay to work so this is a small source of income for Belize Botanic Gardens. Volunteers are often students who have negotiated credit from their Universities. Volunteers have been helpful in many ways – collecting, recording, producing printed matter, helping with school visits, etc. as well as building Our remote location and the economics of Belize make it difficult to draw volunteers from the community, but we are working on ways in which more local people can become a part of the garden by joining volunteer programs. Visitors welcome and Volunteers Welcome!

13. People in the garden Here Innocencio introduces a visitor to “Bob”. Everyone has a job – or several. Bob’s jobs are providing organic fertilizer, grass cutting and pulling the Buggy around the garden. Judy points out plants in the orchid house Which features over 200 species of native Orchids. No hybrids here so lots of interpret- tation is necessary for people who have only seen fancy hybrid orchids.

14. To X the Exotic? At first, other than the Tropical Fruits, Belize Botanic Gardens was going to be only native Plants, but on reflection, we decided that exotics should be included as Belizean people don’t Often get to see many of these plants. To display native plants, various habits have been established or planned. These include a Pine ridge area, Savannah, Rainforest, Inland Lagoon, Native Orchid House And Plants of the Maya, including a medicinal trail and traditional Maya House Plants like this Ylang ylang will be used for making essential oils for sale in our gift shop and in the spa at duPlooy’s. .

15. Big or small native plants are important Sabal mauritiiformis Pleurothallis yucatenensis

16. What is ecotourism? Is it . . . ECO (- nomic) Tourism? EGO - Tourism? EEK! – O -Tourism?

17. OR IS IT ECOTOURISM? Tourism with an emphasis on : • Conservation • Community Involvement • Sustainability Ecotourists are made, not born

18. It’s Cool To Be Green • Care about your surroundings. • Keep waste to a minimum • (don’t use styrofoam or plastic dishes, turn off the lights and water and do anything you can to reduce waste!) • Recycle. • (and buy recycled products) • Compost. • Pass it on. Teach others what you know. • Practice what you preach. If conservation is your message make sure your business or organization is backing it up in their day to day practices. • Never stop learning. Seek new ways to lessen your impact.

19. It is considered very posh to have a green label on your organization. We joined theBelize Ecotourism Association. This also serves as a reminder to us that we have to practice what we preach so the focus is not only to attract ecotourists to the garden, but to keep ourselves aware of things we can to increase our own ecopractices. People who don’t know anything about conservation, biodiversity or even why they should know about these things can be shown why it is important and how they can become ecotourists and also ecocitizens. We need to stress the importance of good ecopractices all of the time, not just on vacation. And what better place to convey the message than in a Botanic Garden? REMEMBER – ECOTOURISTS ARE MADE, NOT BORN

20. Not Natural!? To encourage ecotourists to visit emphasize: • Your garden’s involvement with the community • How botanic gardens contribute to biodiversity protection • How visitors can explore native botanic beauty within a small area and with minimal impact • Conservation and education projects at your garden

21. Shopping List for the Ecotourist Destination : • Fair trade • Sustainably grown • Locally grown or produced • Organically grown

22. Ecotourism in Action Each morning Belizean guide, Philip Mai, shares his knowledge of local birds and natural history with visitors to duPlooy’s Jungle Lodge. Sharing of information engenders appreciation. The more we know about the natural world the more we are likely to want to protect it.

23. Conservation Cooperation Keep employees and volunteers informed. • They can teach others about conservation issues • Explain how conservation relates to the garden • Teach others how to continue conservation efforts in their daily life

24. Birds, Birders and Birdwatchers As Belize Botanic Gardens grows, so does our bird population. There is now a count of just under 300 species within a five mile radius. (see www.belizebotanic.org for a complete list) A great number of ecotourists are birders or wannabees so we have one of the best bird guides in the country on our staff. There are new species moving in each year as trees grow larger for nesting, and more food is available. Birds show their appreciation by helping to eat insects that may want to make us part of their dinner. By not using chemicals at Belize Botanic Gardens, we have shown that it is possible for nature to achieve its own balance even with human encroachment.

25. BBG Birding

26. Marketing – we have to do it Good Marketing Tools Everyone doesn’t have a jungle lodge, but I strongly suggest links with nearby hotels as this can be a good source of business. Encourage owners, managers, front desk personnel and guides to visit. Front desk people will send you the most business so treat them well – remember, as we say in Belize “han wash had”. Distribute flyers and brochures locally and give passes for tours and entrances to encourage people to bring family and friends to the garden. Hold periodic workshops for tour operators and guides to encourage them to bring visitors to the garden. Sell logo items in your gift shop – not tacky ones, remember gardens are veryposh - and try to sell things made locally as much as possible. Those ecotourists like that.

27. Making Money – the crass part of sustainability Since transportation to Belize Botanic Gardens is expensive and most of our children are very poor, we will soon be starting to ask all visitors to contribute 25 cents to a transportation fund. This will enable us to bring more school children to the garden. Children spend an entire day with us and go home with a plant or craft item they have made from materials found in the garden A self-guided tour booklet, written and published by volunteer Pippa Lacey and updated by volunteer Brett Adams lists about 65 plants and their uses is a popular seller. It is simply printed in black and white and costs about 50 cents to print, selling for $7.50. We have sold about 3000 since the first printing in 2000, so it is a continuous source of small income. People tend to buy it even if they are on a guided walk or buggy ride. Currently we are testing recipes using garden products. These will be distributed with tree sales, made into a cookbook and products sold in the gift shop. We will then be able to purchase small amounts of fruit from people who have purchased our trees and use this to make jams, jellies, chutneys, etc. Later we will conduct workshops on non-timber products. Unfortunately, we cannot risk buying consumable products from individuals. Another fund raising project is a donations tree. This is painted on a big board and, according to amounts donated, a toucan, butterfly or leaf is awarded and hung on the tree.

28. Guided Horse and Buggy Tours

29. Grass Cutter, Fertilizers, Transportation Experts Bob and Nickel Help With Sustainability • To convey people who are unable to or don’t want to walk around the garden, we have enlisted the aid of Bob and Nickel to pull an 8-passenger buggy made by members of a local Mennonite Community. This is the traditional type vehicle still used to carry produce to market and has proven to be a very popular way to convey people around the garden. Hopefully the demand will necessitate the addition of more buggies in the near future. This vehicle is maintenance-free and in their spare time Bob and Nickel cut grass and produce organic fertilizer to add to the compost. • A display and tasting of tropical fruits has been very popular with both young and old so we will expand on this for next season. • Recently Belize Botanic Gardens has added an internet center, lab, classroom and volunteers’ apartment so we will be able to broaden our education programs. A weekly lecture series is in the works and classes in ethnobotany, permaculture and orchids of Belize are planned for the near future and our hope is to evolve, combining duPlooy’s Jungle Lodge with Belize Botanic Gardens, into primarily an education and research facility. • A Visitors’ Center is planned, using the rammed earth method of construction with a pond sewage treatment area. How to do information will be made available as this will serve as a demonstration area. • There are plans and there are dreams. One of the dreams is to produce our own fuel from plants and to encourage others to produce alternate fuels.

30. Students learn about locally available fruit

31. Xate • Involving BBG with : • Local Farmers • International Organizations • National NGO’s • Local Community • Government

32. Xate • Belize Botanic Gardens is presently experimenting with several species of Chamaedoreapalms which are widely used as foliage in the floral industry. This involves test plots, growing seedlings for farmers, educating them and later helping find direct organic markets for these and other agro-forestry crops. We are working with farmers from a nearby village who have agreed to hold some of their uncleared land for agro-forestry projects. This sort of project is of great interest to ecotourists who love to hear how you are helping the local community; but more important, this is a real project which helps small farmers to earn a living wage without destroying forests. • If processing of Xate and other crops can be done right in the village, middle men can be eliminated and the majority of the income will go directly into the community. • Our partner in this Darwin Initiative is the British Natural History Museum whose scientists are conducting field studies in the forest. It is partnerships such as this which really make things happen. • Belize Botanic Gardens is seeking partners for other projects and will expand as it becomes economically feasible.

33. A local Garifuna drum and dance ensemble Belize has many cultures