National Plan of Action For the Control of Land-Based Sources of Marine Pollution in Belize.

This National Plan of Action, based on the Global Program of Action to protect the marine environment from land-based activities, is developed through a collaborative and participatory approach between government agencies, local institutions and private sector in partnership with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-GPA Program Office. It sets out in detail the hydrological conditions of Belize, institutional and legal framework, biodiversity and other elements of importance to implementation of the NPA. The main body of the NPA identifies sources of point and non-point pollution of waters that impact also on marine pollution and specifies objectives and actions in respect to these sources in order of priority: sewage, nutrients (principally caused by agriculture and aquaculture), physical alteration & destruction of habitat (principally caused by urbanization & development, deforestation, agriculture & aquaculture), solid waste management. It also provides for a financing strategy for the implementation.