About the Community Baboon Sanctuary
Established on February 23rd, 1985, the Community Baboon Sanctuary (CBS) is a sanctuary for black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) located on the northern coastal plain of Belize.
The Community Baboon Sanctuary is unlike any other protected area, wildlife sanctuary, or ecotourism activity in Belize. Its operations are fully integrated into the seven Belize River Valley communities that make it up, and it is deeply connected to the Kriol culture and history of the region.
The CBS is an IUCN Category IV protected area but it is a Community Conserved Area where individual landowner participation is completely voluntary and based on a pledge system. The present membership is some 170 landholders and includes members of seven area villages.
The Secret to the CBS's Success
The success of the Community Baboon Sanctuary’s model of conservation is due to the long-held cultural appreciation for the Yucatán black howler monkeys (Alouatta pigra) by the people that co-inhabit the region. Villagers in the Belize River Valley have never hunted howler monkeys for food and rarely engaged in capturing them for personal pets or the illegal pet trade. There is a deep-rooted love and enjoyment of the howlers and they have become part of the culture along the Belize River. Thus, humans and black howlers have co-existed in the Belize River Valley for generations. The official establishment of the CBS in 1985 reflected a formal and external acknowledgment of the reality that a natural sanctuary for the howlers already existed. The Community Baboon Sanctuary is successful because our community has always cared.
Howler Monkey Populations in Belize
Since the inception of the CBS, howler populations have increased somewhere in the range of 450 to 500% and the total population of howlers in the CBS is some 4,000 – 5,000 monkeys. This has clearly been a huge conservation success for the CBS and means that the CBS now maintains a viable population of howler monkeys that is somewhere near its carrying capacity. Management should thus shift in focus to maintaining a healthy and genetically diverse population rather than growing a population.
Community-Based Conservation Trailblazers
The Community Baboon Sanctuary has stood for 36 years as an example of community-based conservation and helped define a whole new category of protected area in Belize and globally. More importantly, the CBS has had a catalytic effect on rural communities in Belize, Belizean NGOs, and the Government of Belize. This impact led to a wave of community-based conservation and ecotourism projects across Belize in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s and spawned the development of co-management agreements nationwide.
The CBS is an important conservation presence in Belize, and our sanctuary has over 35 years of experience in working through the complicated dynamics involved in managing such a complex ecological and socio-economic landscape. Thus, the CBS is an important part of the conservation and sustainable development community in Belize and has earned a strong voice in the national conservation discussion.
Where To Find Us
The Community Baboon Sanctuary is centered in the Village of Bermudian Landing in the lower Belize River Valley (Longitude 17o 55’ 65”N; Latitude: -88o 53’ 07” W). The CBS includes members of seven area villages: Flowers Bank, Scotland Half-Moon, Isabella Bank, St. Paul’s Bank, Willows Bank, Double Head Cabbage, and Bermudian Landing. The CBS covers around 5,179 hectares.
Area Villages
Landholders
Hectares
Years
Our Goals
With five main goals — Conservation, Education, Research, Tourism, and Community Development — the CBS has become a model for other such sanctuaries throughout the world.
To conserve the population of black howler monkeys and other fauna and flora within the sanctuary.
To research relevant data to guide conservation objectives and inform decision-making.
To educate community members on conservation, development, and capacity development tools that lead to empowerment, including scholarship opportunities in natural resource management and tourism.
To engage in ecotourism to provide income generation to community members from ecotourism-related activities such as homestays and employment opportunities such as tour guiding.
To foster Community Development through activities such as sports, reforestation, clean-up campaigns, youth groups, disaster preparedness, gender equality, family planning, health and well-being, support to address domestic violence, and school projects, among others.
Our Vision
The vision of the Community Baboon Sanctuary is to be a leading grass roots world-class model promoting Belize’s natural resources while preserving prime habitat for the movement of wildlife.
The CBS will be the leading private community-based reserve working hand in hand with its members for improved economic conditions, social wellbeing, and will play a major role in providing alternative livelihood through conservation efforts.