Data-Driven Solutions for Coastal Erosion in Southern Belize

May 13 2022

For years, Hopkins and Dangriga have been plagued by severe coastal erosion and an unsightly accumulation of sargassum on its shores. And it is only getting worse. The National Climate Change Office, through the Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean – known as “EnGenDER” – Project in partnership with the Belize Association of Planners, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center and the United Nations Development Program conducted a survey that yielded critical data that will be useful in addressing these chronic climatic and environmental issues in these communities. The survey focused on standard information such as age, ethnicity, marital status, household roles, poverty levels and also on the conditions of buildings and infrastructure and the type of materials used to withstand the impacts of climate change. Yesterday, a consultation meeting was held in Hopkins to update residents on the findings of the survey.

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This data collection exercise and consultation is an extension of the “Enhancing the Climate Resilience of Dangriga and Hopkins” project where a team of Cuban experts traveled to Belize in September 2020 to research Belize’s southern coastal erosion problem. The data and reports will be given to the Hopkins village working group, the National Climate Change Office and it’s partners which they can use to produce project concepts and ideas to seek funding to address coastal erosion and other related issues.A consultation will also be held in Dangriga.