What happened at Machaca
Around 160 volunteers gathered at the Machaca Forest Reserve in southern Belize for a mass tree-planting aimed at restoring degraded sections of the protected area. The event took place on 30 October 2026, according to local reporting of the day.
The initiative was organised by the Ya’axché Conservation Trust in partnership with the Forestry Department. Volunteers planted 190 trees on degraded land already identified inside the reserve.
“Our aim today is to put down 190 trees within degraded lands already identified in the Machaca Forest Reserve,” said Christina Garcia, Executive Director of the Ya’axché Conservation Trust.
Participants included students from Julian Cho High School, Toledo Community College and the University of Belize, along with personnel from the Forestry Department, the Belize Defence Force and the Ya’axché Conservation Trust.
Why Machaca needs restoration
The Machaca restoration effort comes after years of challenges in the area, including logging. Milagro Matus, Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Climate Change, said the government has been working to mobilise resources for Machaca for approximately 25 years.
“For the past 25 years, the office has been trying to mobilise resources to be able to focus in this area. And we have finally done so,” Matus said.
She encouraged Belizeans to take part in tree planting, saying the benefits may extend well beyond the people planting them today. “You might not see the tree today, tomorrow, but in the next coming years, it will provide fruit or shade to someone,” Matus said.
A longer project, not a single day
The 30 October planting is the start of a longer project to restore the reserve. Garcia said the project overall, which has a contribution from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), aims to restore at least 200 hectares of degraded land within the area, carried out gradually.
Matus said the ministry has a programme intending reforestation of over 2,000 trees, with volunteers from different schools and organisations helping with the planting, in an effort to make Belize a greener, cleaner place.
Part of a national goal: one million trees by 2030
The Machaca planting forms part of Belize’s Million Trees Initiative. The national campaign, known as the Greening Belize Initiative, is led by the Belize Forest Department and aims to plant one million trees across the country by 2030. According to the Forest Department, the initiative was endorsed by Cabinet in late 2025 and brings together citizens, schools, communities, businesses, government agencies and non-governmental organisations.
The initiative complements Belize’s commitment under the Bonn Challenge, an international effort to restore degraded and deforested landscapes. Under that commitment, Belize has pledged to restore 130,000 hectares of degraded land by 2030, including 50,000 hectares of forest ecosystems such as riparian forests and mangroves, and 80,000 hectares of agricultural landscapes through sustainable land management.
Why restored forests matter
According to the Belize Forest Department, the country’s forests provide habitat for wildlife, protect watersheds, improve water quality, reduce soil erosion, store carbon and support agriculture. Restoring degraded areas and increasing tree cover are essential to safeguarding biodiversity and improving climate resilience, the department says.
Belize’s forests continue to face pressures from wildfires, deforestation, land degradation, urban expansion and the impacts of climate change, according to the same department.
More climate coverage can be found on the Watan News climate page.
Key facts
- Event: mass tree-planting at Machaca Forest Reserve, southern Belize, on 30 October 2026.
- Volunteers: around 160, including students and personnel from the Forestry Department and the Belize Defence Force.
- Trees planted on the day: 190, on degraded land already identified inside the reserve.
- Organisers: Ya’axché Conservation Trust in partnership with the Forestry Department.
- Longer goal: restore at least 200 hectares of degraded land in the reserve, gradually, with a contribution from the IUCN.
- National context: Greening Belize Initiative aims for one million trees by 2030; Bonn Challenge pledge of 130,000 hectares restored by 2030.
