VZCZCXYZ0015
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0011/01 0072119
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 072119Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9322
RUEHBE/AMEMBASSY BELMOPAN 0036
INFO RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 4545
RUEHGT/AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA 4028
RUEHSN/AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR 5114
RUEHTG/AMEMBASSY TEGUCIGALPA 3926
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0817
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000011 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PLEASE PASS TO AID 
AID FOR SLAMPMAN, JHESTER, AND JGARRISON 
TREASURY FOR KBERG 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAID ENRG BH
SUBJECT:  U.S.-BELIZE TROPICAL FOREST CONSERVATION ACT OVERSIGHT 
COMMITTEE CONSIDERS SMALL GRANTS FUND, OIL EXPLORATION 
 
REF: A) 07 STATE 2071  B) 07 STATE 30914 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  REO attended the U.S.-Belize Tropical Forest 
Conservation Fund Oversight Committee meeting held on November 9 in 
the Rio Bravo Conservation Areas.  The meeting considered recipient 
NGO expenditures and plans for the coming year, PACT Foundation 
grants, and PACT Foundation Board Composition.  Board members 
expressed concern about the issue of oil exploration in Belize's 
National Parks and an expressed an interest in an opportunity to 
meet with the Guatemala TFCA Oversight Committee.  Embassy Belmopan 
may wish to consider a number of activities that can complement the 
U.S. investment in conserving Belize's forests.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
¶2.  The U.S.-Belize Tropical Forest Conservation Fund Oversight 
Committee (OC) met on November 9 for its first meeting since the 
Protected Areas Conservation Trust (PACT) Foundation (the 
Foundation) initiated distribution of grants.  The meeting was 
hosted by Programme for Belize at La Milpa Field Station in Rio 
Bravo Conservation Area, a protected area that benefits from TFCA 
monies.  Rio Bravo's jungles, mountains and pine forests constitute 
approximately four percent of Belizean territory. 
 
¶3.  After reviewing minutes from prior meetings, the Board 
considered reports, expenditures, and proposed budgets for Belize 
Audubon (BAS), Foundation, Programme for Belize (PfB), and Toledo 
Institute for Development and the Environment (TIDE).  REO noted 
that seventy percent of the TFCA budget is used to directly support 
park management:  to pay rangers, park administrators and other 
staff; to purchase equipment; to upgrade park infrastructure; and to 
conduct aerial overflights to locate illegal logging sites and 
similar activities.  TIDE, BAS, and PfB receive the remaining thirty 
percent of the funds to cover administrative costs linked to fund 
management -- an amount established by a survey conducted on the 
establishment of the debt for nature swap.  The debt swap monies 
covered basic expenses that NGOs find are the most difficult to 
cover.   In their reports, the NGOs noted that nearly all activities 
(improvements, research and outreach) in these parks funded by third 
parties leveraged U.S. funds.  Thirty percent of the PACT Foundation 
monies disbursed cover administrative costs linked to managing PACT 
Foundation monies; PACT noted that this amount does not cover the 
full administrative cost to PACT of managing a comparatively small 
grants fund, but nevertheless views it as worthwhile since it 
complements existing PACT programs. 
 
¶4.  The OC emphasized its interest in an exchange of views, 
priorities and lessons learned with the Guatemala Tropical Forest 
Conservation Act Fund.  The OC will be particularly interested in 
the Guatemalan perspective on xate harvesting in the Peten, a 
seasonal cross-border problem in TFCA-funded Tapir Mountain and 
other parks.  Belizean and Guatemalan TFCA representatives 
approached REO on the margins of the November REDLAC meeting (REF A) 
about facilitating a meeting or teleconference between 
representatives of the two boards. 
 
 
¶5.  Belize Audubon's Anna Hoare succeeded TIDE's Celia Mahung as 
chair of the Oversight Committee. 
 
PACT Foundation Update 
---------------------- 
 
¶6.  The PACT Foundation conducted its first grants project call and 
disbursements plans to six recipients in 2007.   Board members were 
appreciative of the participation of U.S. Ambassador Robert J. 
Dieter in the recognition ceremony.  The Foundation leveraged 
additional funds from PACT, which topped off available Foundation 
monies to permit full funding of the six winning proposals. 
 
¶7.  The U.S. representative acknowledged the Fourth Amendment to the 
PACT Foundation Agreement, which limited expenditures to a given 
percentage of its endowment.  Although the PACT Foundation decision 
to amend the Agreement did not require U.S. concurrence, the GOB and 
the NGOs agreed that the existing precedent where Amendments to the 
Foundation Agreement are acknowledged by the USG promoted 
transparency and confidence in PACT Foundation operations. 
 
¶8.  Neither the U.S. nor The Nature Conservancy has a seat on the 
PACT Foundation Board, whose membership is defined by GOB statute. 
The NGOs inquired about proposed legislation that would drop the 
 
statutory definition of Board composition from legislation defining 
the Board, permitting the appointment of new representatives to the 
Foundation Board without additional legislative approval.  Andrade 
explained that current legislation needed in order to align current 
legislation with a Foundation Board decision to add 
non-environmental, non-government representatives to the Foundation 
Board.  He also explained that the GOB had a ripening opportunity to 
channel a new donation through the Foundation, but that the donor 
required that the Foundation have a stronger government presence 
than at present.  Andrade emphasized that the Foundation Board, 
which was still considering the proposal, would need to endorse any 
decision to add new representatives.  Andrade took issue with REO's 
understanding that TFCA funds were to be managed by an entity where 
NGOs were in the majority; in his view, the Agreement merely 
stipulated required participants on the Board without prejudice to 
additional members, NGOs or GOB.  Should the legislation not be 
amended or additional government members not be appointed, a new 
entity would need to be created to receive the new donation to which 
PACT would prefer to transfer the name "PACT Foundation."  The 
difference between U.S. and GOB expectations over the role of the 
PACT Foundation is highlighted in the 2007 evaluation report 
commissioned by the USG. 
 
¶9.  In discussions with Treasury, State and AID officials on the 
margins of the REDLAC meeting the following week (REF A) on 
Foundation Board membership, U.S. officials raised the possibility 
that the existing Foundation Board might retain its existing balance 
and responsibilities as the sole decision making body relative to 
the TFCA sub-account while becoming a sub-committee of a new Board 
that reflects broader GOB ambitions for the PACT Foundation.  The 
proposal will be raised in a communication from REO to the Board now 
under consideration by Treasury. 
 
Oil Exploration in Belize's National Parks 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  Programme for Belize Director Edilberto Romero flagged the 
question of oil exploration in national parks.  A U.S. 
Colorado-based company intends to conduct oil exploration on Rio 
Bravo lands.  While initial tests themselves need not greatly affect 
environmental integrity of the protected area (although concern has 
been expressed about the impact of test explosions on ground birds), 
subsequent exploration and exploitation should oil be struck could 
have a significant impact on Rio Bravo.  For the present, PFB is 
primarily concerned about the opening of six transects through the 
park which will need to be guarded for three years until 
reforestation occurs to ensure that they are not used by poachers, 
loggers, or squatters.  PfB is also concerned whether its success in 
attracting students, researchers, grants and sustainable tourism 
will be compromised by oil exploration.  In discussions on the 
margins of the meeting, Romero explained that the U.S. investor, 
after initially offering a risory amount to conduct the tests 
(itself perhaps a reaction to an over-the-moon estimate of expenses 
from PfB), short-circuited negotiations by prevailing on the 
Minister of the Environment to dictate the standard fee paid to 
landowners despite the special circumstances affecting Rio Bravo. 
PfB is seeking reconsideration of this decision as it would leave 
PfB subsidizing security, environmental monitoring and other costs 
linked to oil exploration. 
 
¶11.  While no one wants to stand in the way of Belize's development, 
REO noted to the OC that the U.S. will follow decision-making 
closely as it makes little sense to invest in forest protection if 
the same land is earmarked by the GOB for energy development.  The 
U.S. has multiple interests in the Rio Bravo Area.  Romero recalls 
that the United States Government contributed USD 2 million to its 
founding in 1988.  Rio Bravo receives a quarter of the debt swap 
monies available under the TFCA.  Rio Bravo is the site for an 
ongoing Joint Implementation project on climate change organized 
under USG auspices and involving 16 U.S. public utilities.  Rio 
Bravo hosts migratory birds that summer in the United States.  More 
broadly, Rio Bravo was established through the efforts of the 
Massachusetts Audubon Society and benefited from a donation of lands 
from the Coca Cola Company. 
 
¶12.  Andrade emphasized that the issue of oil exploration is 
affecting a number of parks, and that PACT intends to channel the 
broader discussion on oil exploration through the National Parks 
Commission to standardize government treatment of the issue.  The 
independent umbrella organization for NGOs, APROMAR, is another 
vehicle for NGOs to make their opinions known. 
 
 
Embassy Belmopan and the U.S.-Belize TFCA 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶13.  Embassy might consider a number of opportunities in which the 
TFCA might complement Embassy Belmopan activities or which the 
Embassy might consider to bolster TFCA management: 
 
-- With REO departing in June 2008, Embassy Belmopan might consider 
whether it is in a position to assume representation on the TFCA OC. 
 The Embassy might gain from closer contacts with NGO partners and 
grassroots organizations based in rural areas.  The Embassy might be 
in a better position to tap the public affairs opportunities 
nationally and regionally as small grants projects are implemented. 
OC Board members would welcome close engagement with Embassy but 
plans to submit separately its recommendation for continued Hub 
representation on the Board. 
 
--  In response to the request outlined in 4, Embassies Guatemala 
and Belmopan might consider whether they might be able to make their 
facilities available to host a DVC between their countries' TFCA 
boards.  The TFCA Boards might also benefit from briefings by the 
Regional AID program and the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) 
on their programs directed at the Gulf of Honduras watershed. 
 
--   OC Board members have no experience in dealing with oil issues. 
 Embassy Belmopan might consider whether it can tap U.S. expertise 
through DVCs, speakers programs, or similar tools to educate 
government officials, PACT and NGOs with regard to issues that need 
to be addressed in negotiating terms and compensation for oil 
exploration and extraction. 
 
--  If appropriate, Embassy Belmopan might consider meeting with the 
firm seeking to prospect in Rio Bravo to brief them on past and 
on-going U.S.-supported activities in the park and encourage that 
exploration activities must not put the US activities in jeopardy. 
Setting aside problems should oil be discovered, it might be 
possible to link oil prospecting with science.  For instance, the 
company could provide information on the geography of the area, 
participate in the joint monitoring of the behavior of ground birds 
and other species in light of prospecting techniques, and conduct 
bird and plants counts as transects are cut.  Should the Embassy 
wish to meet with the U.S. company, REO recommends briefings from 
PACT (Valdemar Andrade) and PfB (Edilberto Romero). 
 
--  Embassy Belmopan might consider bolstering TFCA activities 
through the American Fellow Program (www.partners.net) and the 
Embassy Science Fellows Program (REF B).  The first is available for 
mid-level government officials from a Western Hemisphere government 
to work in a U.S. government agency (or vice versa) for up to 6 
months.  The second is to request a federal agency scientist to 
conduct a project of interest to the Embassy for an extended period 
of time.  For the first, PACT is interested in receiving a U.S. 
official that can work with the GOB on environmental valuation 
techniques.  For the second, PfB expressed an interest in hosting a 
scientist to help them develop a formula for calculating carbon 
sequestration in non-trees forest species.  NGOs might be in a 
position to help out on issues like in-country travel or housing 
that may prove to be hurdles for the Embassy. 
 
--  The Embassy CLO might consider working with TFCA partners to 
organize day visits or weekend trips to TFCA-funded protected areas 
for Embassy staff, which include some of Belize's most sensitive or 
sites.  These visits might also double as inspections for meeting 
with staff, inspecting infrastructure or interviewing recipients. 
 
LANGDALE