May 2008, Issue 17

LightHawk's monthly update, WayPoint, was created to share some of the good news we on staff learn about daily. These success stories illustrate the critical role we play in conservation efforts throughout North and Central America through the unique perspective of flight. We hope you enjoy WayPoint and will share with others our success stories from above.

LightHawk pilots who have flown in Belize for almost two decades have seen big changes happening in the country from the air. So when interim Mesoamerican Program Manager Lee Pagni heard of the NOAA project, he knew LightHawk was uniquely suited to help accelerate the researcher’s efforts and clarify the issues. While on a work trip in Belize, Lee sat down with a researcher to discuss flights over the study areas. Just a few weeks later, LightHawk volunteer pilots Brian Williams and George Simchuk had flown all three researchers working in three different Belizean coastal communities for the project.

The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, including the Blue Hole reef off the coast of Belize, are affected by global climate change and local environmental degradation. R.Engholm/LightHawk

Photographing the communities from above allowed researchers to see the big picture and understand at a glance, for instance, how many roads had been cut into a wetland, the proximity of one part of the community to a tidal flood zone or the extent of a proposed development.

The Punta Gorda community official in charge of hurricane preparedness remarked how the flight provided crucial visual information to assist their process of storm-disaster preparedness. In San Pedro, photographs showing the extent of recent construction within a tidal plain will be used to bring a broader perspective to discussions related to development with stakeholders in the community.

With just one flight in each of the three communities, the researchers, community leaders, and other stakeholders now have invaluable visual information to help guide future decisions which impact the health of the barrier reef and by extension, the coastal communities themselves. Whether planning for disasters or managing their local environment and relationship with the barrier reef, the work of the communities was complemented by LightHawk flights which will help lead to a lasting impact for these and other coastal communities.