South and Central America 143 Mapajo Project, Bolivia The Mapajo project is a community ecotourism initiative in the 400 km? United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve and communal lands of Origen Pilon Lajas in Boli The Mapajo project is named after the characteristic local tree Ceiba pentandra, a tall tree that emerges above the rainforest canopy throughout the project area. The project was established in 1999 as an initiative of indigenous communities along the Quiquibey River, numbering 280 persons in all. Two principal Bolivian government entities are involved. The national parks agency, Servicio Nacional de los Areas Protegidas de Bolivia (SERNAB), is responsible for environmental protection and for management of the Biosphere Reserve. A community development agency, Programa Regional de Apoyoa los Pueblo Indigenas de la Cuenca del Amazonas (PRAIA), is responsible for financial and technical management and project supervision. Funding has been provided principally by a Canadian universi- ties’ NGO, CUSO (2002), which has provided US$52,000 in technical assistance. Bilateral-aid funding has also been provided from the UK, total- ling US$57,000, and from France, totalling US$5000. PRAIA’s regional programme has provided US$9000, and the in-kind value of local labour and material has been accounted at US$62,000 (Schulze, 2002), though the basis for this calculation is not provided. Toledo Ecotourism Association, Belize The Toledo Ecotourism Association is a consortium of five Mayan Indian villages in a rainforest area in southern Belize. It was founded in 1990 by a group of local residents. With assistance from the World Wide Fund for Nature and the Nature Conservancy, the Association built five guest houses, one in each of the villages. In 1995, a further eight guest houses were constructed, with fund- ing from US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Belize Ministry of Tourism and Environment (Toledo Ecotourism Association, 2002). There was apparently a period during which the USAID-funded guest houses were operating in competition with those built directly by the local residents, but it appears from the Association's website that the aid-funded additions have now been incorporated into the original programme. The guest houses are constructed along the lines of a traditional village house, but are divided internally into two sleeping areas, each able to accommodate up to four people, and with a shower and toilet adjacent (Edington and Edington, 1997). The beds are fitted with mosquito nets, a significant consideration since the area is plagued by sandflies, which trans- mit cutaneous leishmaniasis, as well as malarial mosquitoes (Edington and Edington, 1997). Visitors are fed in local households, with each successive144 Chapter 5 meal in a different house. Individual households take it in turn to provide tourist services, such as cooking, guiding and running the guest house. To reach the Toledo villages, visitors must first fly or drive from Belize city to the coastal town of Punta Gorda and then travel by road to the Toledo area, either by hiring a local taxi or by waiting for the weekly local bus. The villages received an average of about US$35 per person per day from visitors, including payments for accommodation, meals, local handicrafts and dance performances. The money is paid to the village association, and 80% of it is distributed directly to the families providing the services concerned, with the remaining 20% held in a central village fund. The tourism project is estimated to have raised village incomes by around 25%. According to Edington and Edington (1997), the project apparently has no marketing strategy other than word-of-mouth referrals and a rather rudimentary environmental interpretation programme, essentially restricted to guided scenic walks through the forest. To date, between seven and nine families in each of 12 villages are involved in the organization. According to both the village communities and the individual families within them, each takes it in turn to act as host to tourists, so as to spread both costs and benefits evenly. The intentions are to provide the villagers with opportunities to work in the tourism trade but without abandoning other economic activities; to minimize conflict within and between the communities involved; and to minimize modifications to village culture through exposure to tourism. Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize In 1984, the government of Belize set aside an area of the Cockscomb basin as a wildlife reserve, principally to protect jaguar habitat. A subsidiary proportion, less than 1.5 km2, was specifically designated as the Cockscomb Jaguar Sanctuary in 1987. As of 1990, this was incorporated into the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary (CBWS), 415 km? in total area. Animal species present in the reserve include ocelot, Baird's tapir, anteater, armadillo, brocket deer, scarlet macaws, toucans and king vulture. The Sanctuary is managed by an NGO, the Belize Audubon Society. During the 1990s, BAS has constructed a range of basic visitor facilities, including accommodation, toilets, drinking-water supplies, a visitor centre, a picnic area and walking trails. Initially, BAS funded these activities by charging entrance fees, but this is no longer permitted, and revenue is generated from accommodation charges, souvenir sales, donations, inter- national aid and direct government support. According to Lindberg et al. (1996), the CBWS gains tourism income from bunk fees for overnight visitors, donations from tourists and profits from the sales of books and postcards. By far the majority of its total income is from international aid donors, but only a small proportion of this,