Posted: Friday, October 17, 2025. 2:23 pm CST.
By Aaron Humes: The Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management Bill, 2025, a Bill for an Act to repeal and replace the Coastal Zone Management Act, Chapter 329 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2020; to increase the ambit and focus of the coastal and ocean governance through mechanisms such as integrated coastal zone management and marine spatial planning processes to align with international best practices; to provide for holistic integrated coastal and marine management including the impacts of human interactions; through effective management of ecosystems within the coastal zone and ocean zones to safeguard the integrity of critical ecosystems to enhance climate resilience; to promote equitable use of resources within the coastal zone and ocean zone of Belize; to facilitate and strengthen cross-sectoral coordination, science-based and participatory planning for informed decision-making; and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto, was read a first time in the House of Representatives this morning.
Prime Minister John Briceño said this is in pursuance of the Belize Blue Bond, consisting of the Belize Blue Loan Agreement (BLA) and Conservation Funding Agreement (CFA) signed with the Nature Conservancy (TNC) on November 4, 2021. Belize agreed to eight conservation targets and a repayment schedule within eight years of the signing of the agreement.
Through November 2024, Belize has hit four of the eight milestones, and this is the fifth, due by November of this year. It consists of an updated Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan and nine regional coastal zone management guidelines lasting five years, as well as a new Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management Bill, 2025, replacing the original act. The Bill will be taken through all its stages today to ensure it will be passed into law before the November deadline.
More on this later on.
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The post Government tables bills and regulations supporting coastal zone regulation appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Friday, October 17, 2025. 2:23 pm CST. By Aaron Humes: The Integrated Coastal and Ocean Management Bill, 2025, a Bill for an Act to repeal
The post Government tables bills and regulations supporting coastal zone regulation appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.