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The headwaters of the ancient Macal River begin deep in the Chiquibul rainforest of the Maya Mountains of western Belize near the Guatemalan border. The Macal River then winds its way through the Mountain Pine Ridge area of the Cayo District down through the town of San Ignacio, soon after the waters merge to become the Belize River.

This page is sponsored by BelizeRivers.org, a membership organization for the protection through the promotion of the rivers of Belize.

http://www.belizerivers.org

Gentle streams eventually combine to allow the freshwater of the Macal River to flow into the water table that in turn allows the western Caribbean nation to benefit.

From the waters of the Macal River banana growers are insured a harvest, freshwater bottlers are able to bottle their nectar in order to profit and a country of diverse cultures is able to prosper from a booming tourist industry that attracts people from beyond its borders. As a young nation of some twenty plus years of history starts to stand on her feet, the natural resources of Belize are vital to its future.


The Privassion, a tributary of the Macal river


The Macal river near San Ignacio, Cayo District

Though the electrical power provided by the Chalillo Dam is also vital to the economy of Belize, as it will hopefully as promised allow the country to become less dependent upon Mexico and Venezuela for its energy sources, the question is “Was it worth flooding 22 miles of the Macal River valley with a project that destroyed more than 2,000 acres of crucial habitat for Tapir, Morelet's crocodiles, Jaguars and displacing the last 200 local subspecies of Scarlet Macaw?? Was it worth destroying forever by flooding Mayan structures unique in the Mayan world such as Garapata, Bejuco, and Peligroso that were classified as Plazuela sites as well literally hundreds of unearthed burial sites? Was it really worth it?”

I guess like many times before, humanity will learn from history.