Rapid Ecological Assessment Runaway Creek Belize

Meerman, Jan C. (1999) Rapid Ecological Assessment Runaway Creek Belize. Technical Report.

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Abstract

This study was ordered by the Foundation for Wildlife Conservation - FWC (Zoological Society of Milwaukee County - ZSMC). Consultant for this study was Jan Meerman from Belize Environmental Consultancies Ltd. (BEnCo). The study started in February 1999 and finished in August 1999. During fieldwork and office work, consultant was assisted by Martin Meadows (Ornithologist), Tony Garel (Mammals), Tineke Boomsma (Physical Geographer), Celso Mendez (field assistant) and Geronimo Tzib (field assistant). The objective of the study was to make a baseline inventory of the flora and fauna of the parcel of land purchased by the Foundation for Wildlife Conservation; Runaway Creek Works. Taking into account the limited timeframe in which the study was to take place, a vegetation survey was intended to be the main component of the study. Although separate large mammal and bird surveys were conducted, in depth faunal surveys normally take more time and effort to reach any level of completeness. A small mammal survey would also have been interesting since this would have given some insight in the small prey base. Unfortunately, small mammal surveys are extremely labor intensive and therefore very expensive. The timing of the survey was considered ideal for many purposes since it included sections of both the dry- and the rainy-season. This allowed for interesting observations of seasonal aspects of the project area such as hydrology and bird migration.

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