Posted: February 18, 2016. 1:52 p.m. CST.
Jordyn Richardson
By BBN Staff: A 17-year-old high school student from Pennsylvania, USA is organizing a fundraising marathon in her hometown of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania to raise funds for the Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD).
FCD is a non profit, non-governmental organization based in the Cayo District with an assertive management presence in the Chiquibul Forest, which represents around 7.7 percent of Belize’s territory.
The student from Lancaster Country Day School in Pennsylvania, 17-year-old Jordyn Richardson is fond of the FCD’s efforts in protecting the Chiquibul Forest and has scheduled the fundraising marathon for April 2016 in her hometown.
Dubbed “The Chiquibul Cougar Challenge”, Richardson hopes to raise over US $1000 for the FCD and estimates that over 75 students from her high school will participate in the fundraising activity.
Richardson, who is currently in Belize to attend the Maya Mountain Adventure Challenge, told Breaking Belize News this morning that Belize’s beauty is unspoiled and pristine and that the FCD should be applauded for the incredible work it does in protecting the unique flora and fauna at the Chiquibul Forest.
“This is my first time in Belize and I am so fascinated by its beauty. Belize’s flora and fauna is incredible,” she said when asked why she was enthusiastic about holding a fundraising event for FCD in her hometown.
The Chiquibul Forest is in the south-western region of Belize and is comprised of over 423,000 acres of tropical forest (about 4x the size of Barbados). The area includes the largest cave system in Central America, the Caracol Mayan Site, the Chiquibul River, which provides water to 40 percent of Belize’s population and so much more.
The FCD park rangers do the day-to-day monitoring and research within this vast forest area and provide critical data to the regulatory agencies including the Belize Defense Force (BDF), Police, Forest Department and other authorities about the state of the environment and extent of incursions and encroachments against Belize’s natural resources and sovereignty.
Breaking Belize News Team applauds Richardson for her efforts and wishes her the best for her fundraising marathon in April.
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