Geotourism Entrepreneurs Save Sea Turtles

Our March newsletter is online.

We report on our new project supporting Environmental Leadership and Entrepreneurship for Geotourism. This project, supported by the Inter-American Development Bank, is a concerted effort to scale up our efforts to combine community-based sustainable tourism with biodiversity management in the Paso del Istmo.

We also talk about our work with Man and Nature, to rebuild connectivity across watersheds and to gather traditional knowledge of local plants to find sustainable ways to harvest and export native plants.

Lastly, we thank our friends at Three Parameters+ for supporting our Junior Rangers program in Tola and for helping over 60 students gear up for and get to school.

Salvemos Nicaragua

A few weeks ago, Paso Pacífico's Abril Perez & Julie Martinez appeared on Nicaragua's Channel 2 morning magazine show Primera Hora, to discuss our campaign to encourage better solid waste and wastewater management.

Watch the video (in Spanish) below, or you can watch it on the Canal 2 website.

Abril & Julie also appeared on three other morning news shows. We'll share those videos as they become available.

International Women's Day

On International Women's Day, these Nicaraguan school girls look toward their future.

A featured commitment of the Clinton Global Initiative, our ELLAS Initiative works directly with women, children, and communities to ensure the region’s current and future ability to sustain ecological efforts.

ELLAS, the Environmental Learning, Leadership, Adventure, and Stewardship Initiative, is transforming Nicaragua's La Flor coastal and marine protected area into a geotourism destination. By strengthening female enviropreneurs, empowering coastal communities as environmental stewards, using technology to enable participation and learning, and harnessing market forces through ecosystem service payments, the ELLAS initiative is averting large-scale environmental destruction.

Our 25 female enviropreneurs manage tourism-centered businesses, including kayaking tours, a guide association, hostels, locally-sourced seafood restaurants, and a tree nursery supporting watershed restoration. In coordination with our sea turtle program, women have also formed a sea turtle nursery, generating income by protecting nests and educating others about sea turtle conservation.

Read more about our efforts to empower women.

Support the ELLAS Initiative.

Conservation Connections: Bats are Beneficial

Our February newsletter is online.

Thanks to Danielle Gustafson from Bat Conservation International for the great photo of our Junior Rangers learning about a bat they've just netted with bat biologist Luis F. Aguirre.

Also in our newsletter:

• catch up on last month's Turtle Ball
• learn about our upcoming arts education programs with the Raechel & Jackie Foundation
• Meet PP staffer Nicole Salazar
• help us fight forest fires in coastal Nicaragua