UB-ERI Leads 2025 Belize Bioblitz in Manatee Forest Reserve

UB-ERI
Sep 14
2 min read

The UB-ERI led its 2025 Belize Bioblitz on August 29–30, bringing together wildlife biologists, aquatic researchers, students, experts, bird enthusiasts, and tour guides to explore and record the biodiversity within the Manatee Forest Reserve during a 24-hour survey. This initiative continues our annual Bioblitz series, which last year featured the 2024 Belize Bioblitz at Mount Pleasant Creek in Belmopan.

Bioblitzes are key citizen science projects that allow people to learn about and engage with nature, all while logging real biodiversity data to contribute to global datasets. These data help us understand patterns of species distribution, increase the number of verified records and photographs available online, and contribute to biodiversity research projects that rely on publicly accessible data.

2025 Belize Bioblitz - Manatee Forest Team

In 2025, 29 participants worked in teams to record species across different biodiversity groups using iNaturalist and eBird. To date, participants have reported 949 observations in iNaturalist, encompassing 367 unique species. Highlights include:

149 species of insects
151 species of plants
18 species of fungi
117 species of birds logged on eBird

Notably, this Bioblitz produced what appears to be the first record of the Geometrid moth Palyas micacearia in Belize, and the second national record (and first since 1973) of the smaller sand cricket Ellipes minuta. Species identifications and records are still being reviewed.

This citizen science effort has deepened our understanding of the biodiversity richness of the Manatee Forest Reserve and contributed valuable records to national biodiversity datasets. We look forward to continued support from communities, researchers, experts, and outdoor enthusiasts to sustain this annual tradition and expand knowledge of Belize’s biodiversity across all landscapes.