Victories

Since 2001, Oceana has achieved hundreds of concrete policy victories for marine life and habitats. From stopping bottom trawling in sensitive habitat areas to protecting sea turtles from commercial fishing gear, our victories represent a new hope for the world's oceans.

February, 2011

A Poll to Measure People’s Perception on Oil Exploration and Drilling in Offshore Areas

A random sample was selected of 4000 countrywide participants employing statistical technique simple random sampling employing random application software.  The application included a database of landlines countrywide.  Other statistical techniques were employed to ensure proportional representation of sample per target population per each district to ensure validity of results.  The poll was conducted via telephone and interviews were conducted by a team of trained interviewees.

An instrument was created which included 7 questions measuring the major constructs pertaining to perceptions on oil exploration and drilling in offshore areas. The instrument was tested employing face validity and other statistical tests to validate reliability of results.  Sample of the instrument is available for testing purposes.

The analysis was conducted employing SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Scientist) and included mainly frequencies and cross tabulations within each construct and variables of interest.  All results are shown in graphs and tabular statistical tables.  Tests were conducted within a confidence interval of 95% ( a margin of error of + – 5%).

April, 2009

SATIIM and Indigenous Mayan Communities Supreme Court Victory is a Victory for all Belizeans

The Coalition to Save Our Natural Heritage and Oceana in Belize salute the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM) for its ongoing efforts to have the indigenous rights of the Maya of Southern Belize respected. Madam Justice Michelle Arana’s historic ruling on April 3’d 2014 affirmed those rights when the Supreme Court found that while the Government of Belize has the right to issue permits to explore for oil and even drill, they must consult with the members of the affected indigenous communities to determine what activities can happen on their lands as well as the forms of compensation to follow.

The lesson all Belizeans should take away from this issue is that we all have the inherent right to be part of a consultative and participatory process in the management of our resources–especially when political policies have the potential to cause irrevocable damage.