Oil exploration threatens Belize's protected areas.

• Author: Herro, Alana
• Position: EYE ON EARTH

The government of Belize is violating international human rights law and possibly other global treaties by permitting oil exploration on indigenous lands, according to the environmental advocacy group Global Response. The group says Belize's April 2006 decision to allow Texas-based U.S. Capital Energy to conduct seismic operations in Sarstoon Temash National Park, the country's second-largest protected area, violates a 2004 Inter-American Commission on Human Rights ruling and may also breach Belize's treaty obligations under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

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