Half Moon Caye

Not to be confused with Half Moon Cay.

Half Moon Caye

The windward shore of Half Moon Caye
Half Moon Caye
Geography
Location	Lighthouse Reef
Coordinates	17°12′17″N87°32′11″W / 17.2047°N 87.5364°W / 17.2047; -87.5364
Adjacent to	Caribbean Sea
Area	0.168 km2 (0.065 sq mi) [1]
Length	0.8 km (0.5 mi)
Width	0.2 km (0.12 mi)
Administration
Belize
District	Belize District

Half Moon Caye is an island and natural monument of Belize located at the southeast corner of Lighthouse Reef Atoll. ^{[1] [2]} This natural monument was the first nature reserve to have been established in Belize under the National Park Systems Act in 1981 and first marine protected area in Central America. This is also Belize's oldest site of wildlife protection since it was first designated as a bird sanctuary in 1924 to protect the habitat of the red-footed booby birds. ^[3]

World Heritage Site

Half Moon Caye Natural Monument is part of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System World Heritage Site which was established on December 4, 1996, by the United Nations World Heritage Committee after they formally adopted seven marine protected areas along the Belize Barrier Reef and its adjacent atolls under UNESCO at their meeting in Mérida, Mexico. ^[4]

Significant features

• The littoral forest, composed primarily of the orange-flowered siricote tree, provides an endangered and fragile habitat that supports one of the only viable breeding grounds for the red-footed booby colony in the western Caribbean. The booby colony supports the forest’s stability by providing guano as fertilizer. It is also a habitat tor the endemic Belize leaf-toed gecko (also known as the Belize atoll gecko) and Allison's anole lizard. ^[3]
• The south eastern part of the island serves annually as a sea turtle nesting ground from May to November for the loggerhead, hawksbill, and green turtles, all endangered species. ^[3]

Important Bird Area

A 1.2m ha site off the coast of Belize, comprising the nation’s offshore and barrier islands, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of several resident, passage or breeding bird species, including white-crowned pigeons, red-footed boobies, roseate terns, Yucatan vireos, black catbirds, and golden-winged and cerulean warblers. The IBA encompasses the South Water Caye, Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes, Sapodilla Cayes and Glover's Reef marine reserves, Half Moon Caye, Laughing Bird Caye and Man-O-War Caye islands, as well as several spawning aggregations. ^[5]

References

• Islands portal

1. Belize Audubon Society (2008). "Half Moon Caye Natural Monument". Archived from the original on 2018-11-15. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
2. Belize Tropical Forest Studies (2010). "Half Moon Caye Natural Monument". Biodiversity and Environmental Resource Data System.
3. Robinson, Julianne S. (October 2000). "Lighthouse Reef Atoll Conservation and Protection Project" (PDF). U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) PROARCA/CAPAS. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
4. "Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System". UNESCO » World Heritage List. UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
5. "Belize Off-shore and Barrier Islands". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-16.