The world's forests are changing in quantity and quality, in both positive and negative ways. This process is associated with social, economic and environmental factors. These factors are not always presented in a comprehensive way, based on all available information, and free of preconceived ideas or biases. What are the factors that motivate people to plant or cut trees and forests (human driving forces)? What are the natural phenomena that affect forest cover (natural driving forces)?
Forest Resources Assessment 2000 (FRA 2000), a priority programme within the FAO Forestry Department, is executed at the request of all FAO member countries. FRA 2000 is based on country-level information from national inventories, research projects, national consultations and various studies that provide information on forest cover, volume and change over time.
With the assistance of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) of Costa Rica, FRA 2000 carried out a literature review of positive as well as negative changes in the forest cover of Mesoamerica, Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. The present paper presents the results for Belize. They were produced with the cooperation of national and international institutions, which supplied the best available information with respect to the principal factors, situations and processes that have an impact on the change of forest cover and land use (cutting of trees, reforestation, afforestation and degradation).
This document is divided into seven main sections:
1. General profile of Belize
2. Principal causes of forest cover change – general conclusions
3. Annotated bibliography
4. Summary of interviews with national forestry and environmental professionals
5. Bibliography
6. Appendix
7. List of persons contacted and interviewed.
