Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management
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The Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) is a
nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
which represents people in a group of five villages that live outside of
Sarstoon-Temash National Park Sarstoon-Temash is the southernmost national park in Belize. The national park was designated in 1994, and covers an area of 165.92 km2. It is managed by the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM), in partnership with the For ...
in
Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
. They co-manage the park with the Forest Department of Belize and contest outside interference in the park.


Organization


Founding

The Sarstoon-Temash National Park was founded in the
Toledo District Toledo District is the southernmost district in Belize, and Punta Gorda is the District capital. It is the second most developed region in the country (according to the Human Development Index (HDI)). The district has a diverse topography whic ...
in 1994. Local residents had not been consulted about the creation of a national park in their region, and in 1997, residents around the park began to hear about it through the media for the first time. Residents had a cross-ethnic meeting of the five separate communities that lived around the border of the new park, where many expressed anger with the creation of a national park in places and were afraid that the national park might be used to infringe on their indigenous land claims. Ultimately, an agreement was reached with the creation of SATIIM in 1997 to manage the park and its surrounding areas on behalf of the communities around it. The Conservation Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources is in charge of overseeing all the protected regions in Belize, totaling over 38% of the country's land area, with a staff of 3 people as of 2000, and actively seeks local partnerships to help management responsibilities. In 2003, the government of Belize signed an agreement with SATIIM to allow them to co-manage the park with the Forest Department. SATIIM's assistance in managing the forest has helped the membership of SATIIM to understand land boundaries of the region more clearly and to be better able to claim indigenous land rights.


Challenges

In 2005, the
Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...
government announced that it was permitting a
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
n-based oil company to conduct seismic tests in the national park. SATIIM challenged Belize's decision in court successfully based on a technicality. SATIIM also successfully defended the right of the indigenous population to use the park's land in 2007 in a
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
case, which allows the
Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...
to use the land based on their long term occupation and not a deed that the government would have had to provide them.


US Capital Energy tests

SATIIM has protested the expansion of seismic tests for oil and other resources by
US Capital Energy The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
in Sarstoon-Temash National Park since 2009. SATIIM criticized the Forest Ministry for stonewalling the organization in negotiating a renewal of US Capital Energy's contract to conduct seismic tests in the park. In an interview with Channel 5 Belize, SATIIM's director Gregory Ch'oc alleged that US Capital Energy's seismic tests had led to the start of a forest fire inside of the park, and have criticized US Capital for allowing illegal loggers to enter into the park's territory. In response to a letter writing campaign against the seismic tests that SATIIM spearheaded, Prime Minister
Dean Barrow Dean Oliver Barrow, SC PC (born March 2, 1951) is a politician from Belize who served as prime minister of Belize from 2008 until 2020 and as leader of Belize's United Democratic Party. An attorney by profession, Barrow served as Belize's ...
noted, "Clearly this is an organized effort on the part of SATIIM and more power to them but I can tell them that that effort will have absolutely no impact on the government."


Footnotes


References

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External links

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SATIIM Advocacy Project page
{{Coord missing, Belize Non-profit organisations based in Belize Toledo District 1997 establishments in Belize