The Environmental Research Institute (ERI), the newest department of the University of Belize (UB), was inaugurated in January 2010. The Institute was created primarily to address the large gap in local capacity for research and monitoring that exists within Belize. Belize has a wealth of natural resources, including the longest barrier reef in the Western Hemisphere, which supports the country's most important industries, including tourism and agriculture. Recognizing this, the work of the ERI is focused on producing results that are directly relevant and applicable to the sustainable management of Belize's natural resources and building local capacity for this. At a finer but equally important scale for Belize's development, the ERI was created as a semi–autonomous department of UB, with transparent and efficient management of projects at its core, in order to provide a much needed mechanism for research within the University.