{"id":13160,"date":"2025-05-09T13:07:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T17:07:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/?p=13160"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:33:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:33:37","slug":"workshop-helps-belize-foresters-tackle-pine-bark-beetle-damage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/cegfsd\/workshop-helps-belize-foresters-tackle-pine-bark-beetle-damage\/","title":{"rendered":"Workshop helps Belize foresters tackle pine bark beetle damage"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pine bark beetles were collected and identified during a field trip in Belize.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Belize and Delaware State University, an initial visit to Belize by Antonio Boyle, senior vice president of the Division of Strategic Enrollment Management, was made to discuss research collaboration and capacity building. During a visit to the Department of Forestry, one of the urgent needs highlighted was damage to the pine forests caused by the pine bark beetle. Boyle and his team brought this concern to the Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense\u2019s Latin America cluster to search for potential interventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belize pine forests and savannas are critical to its ecosystem. They constitute 30% of Belize\u2019s total forest area and play a vital role in carbon sequestration, water regulation and support of local livelihoods. The pine bark beetle infestation has significantly impacted the forest resources. Therefore, identifying the insect species and developing control mechanisms to strengthen adaptiveness will increase productivity and revenue for the country.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pine bark damage caused by the beetle is pointed out.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Latin America cluster, which consists of five partnering HBCUs (Delaware State University, Central State University, Lincoln University, Tennessee State University, and West Virginia State University), is led by Dr. Marikis Alvarez, associate dean at Delaware State University. The cluster conducts regional research and outreach activities in Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This cluster manages a project titled, \u201cCollaborative Network for Monitoring Emerging Plant and Animal Diseases for Food Security: Enhancing Global Competency,\u201d which has as its mission to strengthen partnerships in transferring sustainable solutions to pest problems affecting agriculture, forestry, natural resources and human health while developing the capacity for innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within this framework, three cluster members, led by Dr. Ayesha Sarker, West Virginia State University, and Dr. Ibrahim Katampe, Central State University, along with entomology experts from FAMU, led by Dr. Mohamad Haseeb, and graduate student Ann Marie Robinson organized a pine bark beetle workshop in Belize with representation from Costa Rica, Guatemala and Honduras. The workshop was coordinated and hosted by the University of Belize in collaboration with Belize\u2019s Department of Forestry, Ministry of Sustainable Development .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop revealed that foresters across the region are experiencing the challenges of extreme weather events, which is dramatically affecting the intensity of pine bark beetle damage. Participants shared the challenges of monitoring and controlling pests. They were trained in setting up beetle traps with lures and collection from five locations for identification during a field trip to the Mountain Pine Ridge area of the Cayo district of Belize. The two main species of the pine bark beetle identified for the first time in the Belize pine forest were Ips grandicollis <\/em>and Xyleborinus saxesenii.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The participants concurred to form the Latin America Agroforestry Network (LAAN) to coordinate effective regional monitoring and control of the pine bark beetle, given the cross-border nature of the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) will coordinate the data collected in collaboration with all cluster partners. This multi-institutional collaboration established the infrastructure to serve as a channel to reach foresters regionwide, facilitate the exchange of integrated control measures and experiential learning for students and strengthen the linkage between participating countries and the Center of Excellence for Global Food Security and Defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Belize and Delaware State University, an initial visit to Belize by Antonio Boyle, senior vice president of the Division of Strategic Enrollment Management, was made to discuss research collaboration and capacity building. During a visit to the Department of Forestry, one of the…Read more Workshop helps Belize foresters tackle pine bark beetle damage<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2245,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":63,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-13160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cegfsd"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13160\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13160"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/sans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=13160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}