E17 - UNBELIZEABLUE

UNBELIZEABLUE is a modern documentary that follows a multigenerational group of inspiring women leaders in Belize striving to protect the country’s Barrier Reef Reserve System. Focusing on the inherent conflict between conservation and exploitation of the world’s second largest coral reef system, the film highlights ways to protect Belize’s natural heritage while enabling communities to thrive in a sustainable way. Featured characters include, among others, Janelle Chanona (Oceana), Nadia Bood (World Wildlife Fund), Beverly Wade (Ministry of Blue Economy), Janet Gibson (Wildlife Conservation Society), Lisa Carne (Fragments of Hope), Jen Chapman (Blue Ventures), Melanie McField (Smithsonian Healthy Reefs Initiative), Rachel Graham (MAR Alliance), Julie Robinson (The Nature Conservancy) and jewelry artists Kaj Assales and Palovi Baezar. UNBELIZEABLUE aims to inspire, inform, and entertain global audiences. It will showcase breathtaking scenery, above and underwater, featuring music with a genuine Belizean vibe. Why This Film Humanity’s destructive impact on the environment is the existential issue of our times. Overwhelmed by doom and gloom scenarios from news headlines, the public yearns for positive and constructive examples of environmental stewardship. Welcome to Belize, a small Caribbean nation recognized as a marine conservation model worldwide. Notably, women here lead virtually all the local and international NGOs tasked with the protection of the country’s marine resources and associated livelihoods. Indeed, owing most of their livelihoods to the reef, either through fishing or tourism, Belizeans have taken bold measures to ban offshore oil exploration, eliminate gillnet fishing, restore coral gardens, and fight the invasive lionfish species. In Belize, marine conservation is a local story with global appeal. A bright example that there is still hope for humanity to come together to coexist and thrive with the environment.