Belize Case – Glover’s Reef

Glover’s Reef is a marine reserve established in 1993 to recover Caribbean spiny lobster populations and other exploited species. This reserve covers 74 km2, including different habitats: coral reefs, seagrasses, and mangroves. In 1998, when monitoring and surveillance began consistently, the density of lobsters inside and outside the reserve was similar. After three years, lobsters were three times more abundant and had biomass 45 times higher inside the marine reserve than outside.