DOE Receives Sargassum Tracking Tool

The National Sargassum Task Force has strengthened its ability to monitor and respond to the sargassum swarm that has been smothering Belize's coastline year after year. Today they received a drone, a laptop and a sargassum forecasting tool. Jomarie Lanza was there: Belize now has in its hands a Sargassum Forecasting Tool, a cutting edge digital platform that will now be utilized under the Department of Environment, by its Sargassum Task Force to track the movement of sargassum along Belize's coastline. Chief Met officer Ronald Gordon explained how a tool like this can enhance their early warning capabilities. Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist "It is not actually equipment but it is a modeling tool used to detect and predict the motion of sargassum. As many persons are aware we do issue a sargassum forecast and we are part of the sargassum Taskforce which includes not only the met service but I believe the Fisheries Department, it includes the Department of the Environment, the Ministry of Tourism and others. That task force has been in effect for several years now and since it came into effect our responsibility at the Met service is to detect and predict sargassum in order for those areas that are going to be impacted to make some preparation. When we started this task, we didn't have much tools or rudimentary tools to use so our forecast was pretty much vague. What this tool is going to help us to do is be more precise in where the sargassum is and help us to be more precise in where we expect sargassum to affect the coastline." And while Belize's beaches, and coastal properties suffered greatly in the last 7 months because of the daily volume of sargassum, the tool comes along when the beaches have cleared. Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist "From what I understand it has decreased significantly since the peak in August or so we do know that Sargassum is seasonal so it tends to peak during the summer months and decrease during the what we call our winter which is December to January so right now although there are some small mats still they are not as big or as impactful as it was previously." DOE's Deputy Chief Environmental Officer says it's better late than never. Edgar Ek, Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, DOE "It is not in its peak right now unfortunately there is a process we have to follow to be able to get the different equipment and tools and we are fortunate that we got it. It is about time because based on the information that we are getting from our regional partners and I must say that Belize is ahead of everybody in the region with everything we are doing in terms of sargassum management, that there is a changing pattern in terms of when shall we expect sargassum. The information coming to us is that we should start to expect sargassum arriving in the country as early as January when we previously were saying the time was around March or so, so with all of these different tools now we are able to, now we can plan ahead of time and it won't get us by surprise." "The department of the environment was the lead institution in developing the project concept through the Central American commission of environment and Development, we had initially developed the entire project components and we shared that along with the ministry of tourism and the ministry of Blue Economy and Marine Conservation and best on their inputs we made a submission to the Central American commission on environment who approved the project and the project is being funded by the government of Taiwan, we really appreciate that for the implementation of the project." The total value of the tool is $190,000 USD, and features 2 target components: one deals with sargassum and the other is aimed at reducing the pollution of single use plastics and other waste. But 80% of the project is aimed at sargassum management. Ronald Gordon, Chief Meteorologist "The module covers the entire country so we can see from north to south along the coast line and it uses satellite imagery to sort of detect where sargassum is and using computer modules of ocean currents it gives us an idea of where the sargassum will go and also give us a timing where those sargassum mats will impact those areas. In addition to that it gives us an idea how big the mats are and what area what volume it covers so in other words we can more or less give residents of those areas some time to prepare in advance of a sargassum inundation on the coastline." The donation was made possible through the SICA AZUL project and support from Taiwan.