Northern Belize - Río Bravo Conservation & Management Area

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organization. Apart from conservation, other goals of the RBCMA include the production of commercial scale hardwood lumber, chicle and other forest products on a sustainable basis, as well as tourism and forest and archaeological research.

Mayan people lived on the land that is now the RBCMA as early as 800 BC and remained until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1600s, although their numbers had significantly depleted. Like the Mayans before them, the British moved in to log the area in the 18th C. The logging of mahogany and Mexican cedar by large companies continued throughout the 20th C. Extensive portions of the forest were logged and the river system was used to float the logs out to the coast.

In addition to logging, the RBCMA has seen extensive tapping for chicle, the gum-like sap of the sapodilla tree used to make chewing gum. Large gashes were cut in a V shape along the tree's trunk, and although the practice has declined, slash scars can be seen on many trees throughout the RBCMA. The reserve was created in the mid-1980s when Barry Bowen purchased the land and then sold some to Coca-Cola Foods. The large corporation then donated a large portion of it to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which eventually formed the Programme for Belize.