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When I visited Belize last June I supposed an inflatable yellow kayak following Macal River toward its source Maya mountains. But rains had come early and with vengeance, washing out road into river valley, turning knee-deep Macal into dangerous torrent. So drove north instead Orange Walk – a town surrounded citrus plantations – took fast boat to Lamanai.

Lamanai (a Spanish-Maya word "submerged crocodile") is the site an ancient Maya city carved out lowland jungle thousands years ago. To get boat snaked its way through mangrove swamp until river widened into a freshwater lagoon, about 80 miles inland the Caribbean. Keeping an eye out crocs, stepped off the wooden dock clearing forest where guide – decked out yellow rain slicker – began his presentation, leading us through downpour one awesome stone pyramid next.

Once city more than 20,000 people, more than 700 buildings have been identified Lamanai site, most awaiting restoration. largest are temples, places of ritual sacrifice. Close your eyes you can almost smell incense, rain beats down like chanting Maya warriors dressed kill jaguar skins brilliant feather headdresses.

Canadian author Ronald Wright wrote about visiting this corner Maya world book, Time Among Maya. It here 1985 he met David Pendergast, man who led Lamanai dig Royal Ontario Museum the 1970s 1980s. Pendergast first came Belize the 1950s, searching clues what Wright describes "one of great mysteries New World history: apparently spontaneous collapse Classic Maya civilization when the Maya abandoned most their cities lowlands of Guatemala, Belize, [Mexico's] southern Yucatan."

Through years painstaking work, Pendergast ROM crew uncovered evidence more than three thousand years of continuous occupation Maya, longest known span in Central America.

Carleton University students helped map site, even nicknaming one plaza group administrative buildings as "Ottawa group."

Oddly enough, despite Canada's contributions Lamanai, there Maya exhib Royal Ontario Museum, no trace Pendergast's life's work longtime colleague partner Elizabeth Graham, former ROM associate now directing Lamanai project.

"It's sad," says Pendergast, because "the Belize work remains ROM's lengthiest largest research endeavour in its history."

To make matters worse, an important link Maya civilization further south Lamanai now threatened a different kind Canadian initiative.

Fortis, TSE-listed power company based Newfoundland, plans build US$30 million hydro dam heart the Macal River Valley, one last undisturbed rainforest valleys remaining Central America, inhabited Maya thousands years ago.

Eligorio Sho, Maya guide naturalist, colleague Sharon Matola, director Belize Zoo Tropical Education Centre, have been kayaking bushwhacking through nether regions valley more than a decade, studying its abundant wildlife. They say no place hydro dam.

Maya guide naturalist, Eligorio Sho, kayaking on Macal River.

"The Quamwood trees along Macal tributary are only known nesting sites scarlet macaw – rare sub-species parrot has been hunted extinction in the rest Central America," says Matola. ". . . To flood their habitat, when Fortis knows are better alternatives, nothing less than criminal."

In an interview with CBC last year, Fortis CEO Stanley Marshall admitted dam would have "adverse environmental consequences," but insisted "Chalillo will provide the absolute cheapest energy Belize."

Ambrose Tillet, former Belize Electricity executive, says there's nothing cheap about Chalillo. "I've gone through the fine print deal it's ripoff. Fortis will make killing Belizeans pay exorbitant electricity rates, even when there's not enough water spin the turbines."

A symbol courage strength ancient Maya, jaguar may lose its home Canadian power company’s hydro dam.

A few years ago, tracking scarlet macaw, Sho stumbled across ruins several Maya settlements proposed dam site area, long reclaimed jungle. After visiting the area with Sho, leading Maya archaeologist, Dr. Keith Prufer Southern Illinois University, announced was a strong likelihood finding substantial ruin somewhere in upper Macal watershed. "The ruins saw had all hallmarks complex important sites, including causeways, public plazas, large temple buildings, what may administrative architecture," says Prufer. "If the area were not slated dam would feasible to mount large archaeological expedition explore the region."

Pendergast's colleague Elizabeth Graham says is "unthinkable" such large-scale construction would be planned without first doing proper archaeological surveys, given some richest most complex Maya sites in region are found nearby.

Fortis claims will conduct these surveys during dam's 18-month construction period. But Sho wonders "what's the point" if Fortis going flood area anyway.

He hopes ancestors have last laugh. "Fortis' consultants [Toronto-based AMEC] didn't look carefully at the reservoir area: are underground caves out there, where people once buried their dead . . . so that reservoir might never hold water."

Gráinne Ryder Policy Director Probe International, a Toronto-based foreign-aid watchdog environmental group.

Take Action

E-mail Fortis at:
www.probeinternational.org/pi/index.cfm?DSP=subcontent&AreaID=112
Sign Stop Fortis petition at:
www.stopfortis.org