Five Blues Lake National Park

WILDLIFE

Only recently has there been a start made to of the park's fauna. During a 10 week study, 167 species of birds were recorded, and over 20 species of bats (University of Southampton, in prep.). There has been no fishery study of Five Blues Lake, but two common fish species are Bay Snook and Tuba. The area's forest has been classified as deciduous seasonal broadleaf forest rich in lime-loving species. Forest vegetation has been altered in the past by selective logging, chicle and rubber tapping, fruit gathering and other extractive uses, ancient Maya silvicultural practices, and clearing for various types of agriculture.

LOCAL POPULATION

St. Margaret's (Santa Martha) Village is centred on the intersection of the Hummingbird Highway and Lagoon Road at Mile 32, but it stretches north along the highway for about 2 miles and towards the park for another 2 miles. (According to McGill (1994), the name St. Margaret's is now used to refer specifically to an area of government sub-divided land near Mile 32 that was set up about 5 years ago to accommodate a flood of Spanish speaking immigrants. Santa Martha generally refers to the older area of settlement strung along the Hummingbird highway on mostly unsurveyed land. In general though the names are used interchangeably). In 1980, the area had about 60 residents. The 1991 population (combined St. Margaret's and Santa Martha) was 415. Currently, local sources estimate the population at 600-700 people. The influx of refugees from EI Salvador and Guatemala in the early 1980's, and subsequent births, accounts for most of this growth. The growth has slowed in the last few years.