An Interview with Nicole Auil Gomez, Wildlife Conservation Society

AN INTERVIEW WITH NICOLE AUIL GOMEZ, THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY

Ms. Auil Gomez joined the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2016 and brings a wealth of experience from both NGO and government sectors. She has served as Executive Director of Belize’s Southern Environmental Association (SEA), worked in technical positions at the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Wildlife Trust Belize, and undertaken manatee research in conjunction with Sea to Shore. She holds a Master’s in Wildlife and Fisheries Science from Texas A&M University, with a research focus on coastal zone management and expertise in the endangered Antillean manatee. She also has ample experience in management, fundraising, politics, and policy, and is a Whitley award winner.

Initiatives Replenishment Zones Program

Currently, no-take, or replenishment, zones represent approximately 3% of Belize’s territorial sea. The effectiveness of these zones in replenishing fish stocks and enabling the recovery of damaged or degraded ecosystems is limited in part by their small size and fragmented nature, as well as by the mobility of many species of fisheries concern and the effects of both proximate and distant pressures.

The Government of Belize (GoB), institutional partners, and several NGOs, along with the Wildlife Conservation Society, have committed to collaborate on a national project to expand no-take, or replenishment, zones to incorporate at least 10% of the country’s territorial sea as strictly protected areas.

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