Connecting for Conservation in Nicaragua

A Successful Waterman's Weekend

2011-08-18T11:52:00.001-07:00

Paso Pacifico's Executive Director Sarah Otterstrom and Communications Director Wendy Purnell just returned from SIMA's 22nd annual Waterman's Weekend, where Paso Pacifico was honored as one of their 20 beneficiaries! The turnout included more than 675 of the surf industry's most notable environmental stewards, and the event raised over $400,000 for non-profits like us that work to conserve ocean resources.

Sarah Otterstrom, Paso Pacifico's Executive Director

Photo: shop-eat-surf.com

Jessie Creel with Paso Pacifico's Wendy Purnell

Photo: shop-eat-surf.com

Paso Pacifico enjoyed a festive weekend and was able to meet organizations and individuals who are as enthusiastic about the environment as we are! The weekend's itinerary included the Annual Waterman's Classic Golf Tournament at Monarch Beach Golf Links in Dana point on August 11 and the Annual Waterman's Ball at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel on August 12.

Honorees were chosen for their impact on the sport of surfing as well as their work in ocean conservation, and included big wave surfing champion Greg Long as Waterman of the Year, former Malibu mayor and environmental activist Jeff"Zuma Jay" Wagner as Environmentalist of the Year, and Hawaiian big wave surfer and board shaper George Downing with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Paul Naude with the weekend's honorees George Downing,

Greg Long and Jefferson "Zuma Jay" Wagner

Photo: Brent Hilleman via business.transworld.net

For more information on the weekend's activities and beneficiaries, as well as details on the work we've accomplished with SIMA's grant money, see the post below!

SIMA 2011 Waterman's Weekend

2011-08-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Paso Pacífico is looking forward to the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association’s 2011 Waterman’s Weekend, coming up on August 11 & 12. This annual event is a fundraiser for SIMA’s Environmental Fund and an opportunity to recognize those who work for ocean conservation. Every year, the Environmental Fund chooses 20 ocean-related, non-profit organizations as beneficiaries, and Paso Pacifico is proud to again receive this honor!

The events of Waterman’s Weekend will begin on the first day with the Waterman’s Classic Golf Tournament and a surf contest as well as live and silent auctions. The second day marks the 22nd Waterman’s Ball and Auction, which honors and celebrates leaders in industry and raises money for oceanic causes.

Locals Ready to Surf in San Juan del Sur

Last year, Paso Pacífico used this grant from SIMA to work with the budding Nicaraguan surf community and channel their passion for the ocean into environmental action. Nicaragua is en route to becoming a major surf desination, a factor which drives tourism and economic development along the coasts. Locals are essential to building a thriving surf culture, and Paso Pacifico aims to give them a voice and a tight-knit community.

To do so, we held monthly educational workshops for local surfers in San Juan del Sur, which built awareness about marine debris and how it affects the functioning of our watersheds. Each workshop was accompanied by a beach cleanup to mobilize surfers, build community and keep Nicaraguan’s favorite surf spots clean.

Through these workshops, a core group of ocean-minded surfers realized that they, too, could influence environmental policy. When an important surf break at Playa Madras was closed last year, Paso Pacífico provided legal assistance and organized a meeting between the surfers and the government in order to successfully reopen it again. With our organizational training, this group of local surfers formed the San Juan del Sur Surf Association, which will independently forward surfers' interests and work for cleaner coasts.

This year, Paso Pacífico will use the grant to again support local surf culture and provide environmental workshops to an expanded group of Nicaraguans.

We would like to thank SIMA for this recognition and are excited for the opportunities that lie ahead for ocean conservation!

Power to the Purchases

2011-05-25T13:13:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to make daily contributions to a good cause? Now it's easy!

Thanks to our partnership with SwipeGood, you can add more power to your daily purchases by donating your spare change to Paso Pacifico.

SwipeGood allows you to round up your credit or debit card expenditures to the nearest dollar and contribute the difference to us. This is a great way to maximize your spare change, and SwipeGood allows you to set monthly limits on how much you donate.

You can learn more here: SwipeGood.com/charity/Paso-Pacifico

Join the program today. Help us change the world, one purchase at a time.

Today is Endangered Species Day!

2011-05-20T12:58:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has declared May 20, 2011 Endangered Species Day to recognize the importance of protecting endangered species, to acknowledge the ongoing work of conservationists, and to commemorate the victories of the Endangered Species Act. Numerous species have been pulled from the brink of extinction thanks to the hard work of conservationists like those working with Paso Pacifico.

Today, as we celebrate our successes, we must also take time to help the species whose futures are still uncertain.

Critically endangered hawksbill sea turtles and black-handed spider monkeys have slow maturation rates and low reproductive rates, which makes their vulnerability to poaching, habitat fragmentation and degradation especially dangerous. That is why Paso Pacifico is on the ground in Central America employing rangers to guard important sea turtle nesting sites, and working with local communities to improve habitat protection, among other life-saving projects.

If you’d like to learn more about what Paso Pacifico is doing to keep these animals from disappearing, please visit our website at http://pasopacifico.org/saving-wildli...

Remember, extinction is forever.

International Coastal Cleanup

2010-09-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

Paso Pacifico is reaching out to communities across Nicaragua to celebrate the International Coastal Cleanup on September 25th. This year's event is promising to be the largest ever in Nicaragua with approximately 364,000 meters of beaches and riverways across 168 registered sites. Along five world famous surfing beaches in the Rivas province, professional Nicaraguan surfers will be leading groups of volunteers. Many private sector sponsors have joined with Paso Pacifico, MARENA, and COSUDE to support the event. These include the Nicaraguan Recyclers Association, Swiss Cooperation, CLARO, and the Fuente Pura. We are expecting thousands of volunteers to turn out and to play a improving Nicaragua's unique and precious.

Join us in Nicaragua or visit the Ocean Conservancy website to clean-up a beach near you!

Las Areas Protegidas

2010-08-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

By, Rick Smith, Paso Pacifico Director and Retired US-National Park Ranger

Desde los años medios del siglo 19, la idea de crear áreas protegidas públicas se ha desarrollado en el mundo. Usando las reservas en manos particulares o las reservas reales como una base, ciertos filósofos democráticos labraban el concepto de apartar secciones del terreno publico para preservarlas como ejemplos del patrimonio nacional para el uso y el goce del público. Animados por nociones románticas sobre la importancia de una relación muy estrecha entre el ser humano y la naturaleza, esos pensadores representaban una novedosa corriente filosófica para sus contemporáneos. Para muchas personas y ciertamente para la mayoría de los reciben llegados al nuevo mundo, la naturaleza no era nada para celebrar, apartar, o contemplar. Era algo para temer y después conquistar.

Uno de los impulsos del crecimiento de la idea era la necesidad sentida entre los ciudadanos norteamericanos de distinguir su situación de la europea de donde habían venido. Una diferencia muy notable era la existencia de vastos espacios de terreno que no le pertenecían a nadie. La atracción de la preservación de algunos espacios era que subrayara la diferencia. Esto representaba otro ejemplo del movimiento democrático que corría por las américas.

La idea de proteger algunas áreas se floreció primero con la creación de Yellowstone en 1872.

Apartando mas de un millón de hectáreas, el Congreso de los Estados Unidos estableció un área dedicada a la preservación de la vida silvestre y las curiosidades contenidos dentro de los limites.

Podríamos repasar la historia del Congreso para leer las palabras emocionantes del debate sobre este gran hito en el movimiento conservacionista mundial, pero la verdad es que no las hay. Evidentemente, los miembros no se daban cuenta de la importancia de esta ley. Pasaron la legislación con poco debate y nos dejaban sin oraciones conmovedores para citar.

Pero si el debate no era algo importante, el acto de crear un parque sí era. Mas de ciento cuarenta naciones han creado un sistema de parques o reservas para proteger los valores o culturales o naturales. Podemos asumir que los motivos del siglo 19 han cambiado y debemos preguntarnos: Cuales son los factores sobresalientes que se han combinado para que las áreas protegidas se hayan sido creadas en todos los rincones del mundo? Los siguientes son algunos de esos motivos:

1.) Proteger la habitación de la flora y fauna típica del país.

2.) Preservar espacio para recreación publica.

3.) Apartar unos ejemplos de los ecosistemas prístinos para el estudio de sus funcionamientos.

4.) Conservar los sitios históricos mas importantes del país para la inspiración del público.

5.) Estimular la industria turística por el establecimiento de algunas atracciones naturales.

6.) Proteger a las especies en vía de extinción.

7.) Crear laboratorios naturales para la educación ambiental.

8.) Preservar algunos ejemplos de las panoramas históricas.

9.) Poner en posesión pública ciertos recursos importantes como cuencas.

Nosotros, los partidarios de la preservación de un sistema de áreas protegidas, aceptamos casi todos los principios citados. Pero que opinaría una persona no convencida de la necesidad de tal sistema? Esa persona podría preguntar--cuales son los beneficios de un sistema? Porque debo soportar las áreas protegidas con los impuestos? Cuando hay una escasez de los básicos como alimentación o atención médica, porque se crea un sistema de áreas protegidas solamente para el uso de los ricos? Seria fácil si pudiéramos responder que para el obrero típico, una semana pasada de vacaciones en, por ejemplo, La Masaya con su familia aumentara su productividad 5% cuando regrese a la fabrica. Desafortunadamente, no tenemos datos para probar esta ecuación. En la mayoría de los casos, hemos podido vender la idea de áreas protegidas en términos o morales o estéticos. Pero, si tuviésemos que justificar nuestra porción del presupuesto, que diríamos? Me gustaría ofrecer algunas sugerencias:

1.) Las áreas son reservas de procesos naturales. En ellas se continúan procesos que comenzaron hace millones de años. En un mundo mas plástico, mas artificial cada día, en el cual el hombre maneja las fuerzas de la evolución, necesitamos sitios como las áreas protegidas, si para nada mas que un punto de comparación. Como observó el arquitecto paisajista Frederick Law Olmstead hace cien anos, "no es que la civilización avance demasiado rápidamente. Es solamente que si no existiera un sistema de áreas protegidas, no tendríamos ninguna forma de medir la velocidad." Además, no podemos replicar o duplicar estos procesos naturales. Su preservación, entonces, es un imperativo. Si permitimos que los procesos se terminen, permitimos la terminación del proceso evolucionario responsable para toda vida, incluyendo la nuestra.

2.) Las áreas protegidas contienen los últimos refugios en los cuales no operamos segun un horario fijo. Una visita a un parque es una de las ultimas cosas en el siglo 21 que hacemos a nuestra velocidad. El visitante descubre cosas y percibe relaciones, basado en su paso de entendimiento. No intentamos llenar su horario, no le vendemos un librito de boletos que deba usar antes de las cinco de la tarde. En este sentido, las áreas protegidas son muy diferentes. Vivimos en un mundo de horarios rigurosos, de citas importantes, de reuniones urgentes. En las áreas protegidas, nos podemos quitar los relojes, apagar las radios, y vivir según los ritmos biológicos. Una excursión a mochila, una expedición por bote, o solamente una caminata por una pradera es un acto de desafío a las restricciones de la vida cotidiana para muchas personas. Debemos hacer lo posible para estimular este tipo de actividad.

3.) Las áreas silvestres son sitios en los cuales un visitante puede experimentar con lo desconocido. Las áreas son relativamente indomadas. Contienen elementos salvajes y no predecibles. Pueden causar temor y peligro. Permiten actos o inventivos o bravos o estúpidos. Una noche en una montaña o en una jungla nos prive de las comodidades del siglo 20 y nos forza a depender en nuestros propios recursos, los cuales ni sabíamos que poseíamos. Necesitamos tales experiencias. Son activas y imprescindibles para una cultura que se convierta mas pasiva cada día.

4.) Las áreas protegidas son laboratorios vivientes para la educación ambiental. Es evidente que el futuro de la planeta depende en la creación de una ética ambiental en sus habitantes. Las áreas protegidas son obviamente sitios para los estudios necesarios para que se desarrolle esta ética. En las comunidades naturales en las áreas se ven características muy deseables para las comunidades humanas. Las naturales contienen diversidad, estabilidad, continuidad y subsistencia. Son factores ausentes en la vida cotidiana en mi país por lo menos. ¿Que podría decir usted de la suya?

Ustedes deberían examinar la situación nacional a ver si lo que están haciendo los administradores de las áreas protegidas es consistente con las ideas citadas. Para ilustrar, estudiemos el parque Yosemite como caso ejemplar de tal examinación. Si visita el parque, se puede conseguir una habitación en el hotel adentro del parque por 100 dólares. Para asegurar que no se sienta abandonado, hay tiendas exclusivas donde se vende, entre otras cosas, joyería de los indios Navajo, Hopi, y Zuni, tribus que en ningún tiempo vivían cerca del parque. En el caso que a usted no le gusten los programas interpretativos, hay cuatro bars a una distancia de dos kilómetros para satisfacerlo. En realidad, todas estas cosas representan la antítesis de las ideas que hemos discutido. Son cosas que hacen que Yosemite se parezca a Chicago o a Managua. Parece que el Servicio de Parques Nacionales de los EEUU les dice a los visitantes--"miren, no se preocupen. Este parque no es salvaje. Es muy semejante a su ciudad."

Si están de acuerdo con la observación que la situación en Yosemite es poco consistente con los principios del manejo efectivo de las áreas protegidas, entonces el libro, Montañas sin Barreras, por el profesor Joseph Sax de la Universidad de Michigan, será importante para ustedes. Una de las características mas importantes de las áreas protegidas para Sax es la idea de contraste. Sax cree que el ser moderno debe tener la oportunidad de comparar los valores, la velocidad, y las actividades que dominan su vida. Un corredor biológico como Paso del Istmo ofrece un sitio ideal para este tipo de contraste porque existe el Paso fuera del tiempo. Los administradores de esta área deben tener cuidado de no glorificar o acentuar los valores del momento. Deben ayudarle al visitante para que entienda que el corredor existe fuera de la medida de ejecución humana.

Para experimentar un área protegida como contraste, se debe estimular a que el visitante emplee su facultad contemplativa. Para Sax, esto quiere decir percibir en una forma distinta. En primer lugar, el visitante debe tomar tiempo suficiente para conocer el parque. Uno de los argumentos en contra del plan del Servicio de Parques Nacionales de mi país de permitir en el Gran Cañón solamente las excursiones por el Río Colorado a remos era que la mayoría de los visitantes no tendrían el tiempo suficiente para una excursión sin motores. Según Sax. este argumento prueba su punto de vista. Si al visitante lo que le interesa es la velocidad de la excursión, entonces su experiencia se afina a la música de la empresa humana, no al ritmo del Cañón. Hay muchos lugares en los cuales una excursión a motores es perfectamente aceptable. En el Gran Cañón, por otro lado, se debe experimentar el contraste.

El sentido de contraste se aumenta si enfocamos atención a los procesos naturales y no a las ejecuciones humanas. En la planificación de las facilidades del área, debemos autorizar la construcción de lo mínimo necesario. En muchos parques en mi país, hemos construido carreteras de primera categoría. Así animamos que el visitante haga su visita a toda velocidad, sin haberle ofrecido el contraste deseado por Sax. La carretera no estimula el sentido de curiosidad, de admiración, de respeto a la naturaleza. La justificación para la construcción es que las carreteras serían mas seguras y los visitantes no se quejarían tanto de las malas rutas.

Este es un argumento que debemos resistir como amantes de las áreas protegidas. El preservar y proteger estas áreas no quiere decir hacerlas iguales a todo. No debemos permitir que las áreas se conviertan a lo común para atraer a mas gente. Siempre existirían las personas que prefieren visitar el mundo de Disney que un área protegida. Está bien, pero no debemos sacrificar los valores muy especiales de las áreas en un intento de aumentar el número de visitantes. Como observó un critico de las áreas protegidas:

Permítame contarles de un escarpado salvaje sobre un
río que tenía un nido de un halcón hasta el año de 1935.
Muchos visitantes caminaban un kilómetro hasta el
escarpado para hacer un picnic y observar los halcones.
Vino un planificador de parques y construyó una
carretera hasta el río, todo en el nombre de planificación
recreativa. El pretexto era que el público antes no
tenía el derecho de acceso, pero ahora sí. Me preguntaba,
acceso a que? No acceso a los halcones, porque se han ido.

Cada día, la influencia del siglo 21se acerca mas a las áreas protegidas. Cada día se producen mas amenazas a los recursos de estas áreas. En un sentido, las áreas protegidas se han convertido en islas de esperanza, una esperanza que nos muestra la posibilidad de proteger y preservar algunos ejemplos de nuestro patrimonio nacional. Afuera de las áreas protegidas, hemos conquistado la naturaleza, ajustándola a propósitos humanos. Solamente en las áreas protegidas podemos observar la naturaleza como existía. Podríamos decir lo mismo en el año 2012? Prometamos nuestro apoyo a la protección de las áreas protegidas.

Gracias.

Get ready to clean-up!

2010-08-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. In just over one month, Nicaragua will join the world in saying no to garbage and yes to clean waterways and beaches!

The International Coastal Clean-up is September 25th, 2010 at a beach or river near you!

Did you know that in only its second year participating in the International Coastal Clean-up, Nicaragua had the eleventh highest number of volunteers in the world? Sign up today by calling our Nicaragua office or signing up on-line through our partners at the Ocean Conservancy

New Program Launched to Protect Neotropical Migratory Birds

2010-08-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

Conservation begins and ends with education. Given the right tools to protect their environment, the next generation can give our world a cleaner, more sustainable future.

The importance of educating people, particularly children, has not gone overlooked by Paso Pacifico as we work to conserve natural resources and native wildlife species. In the past few weeks, Paso Pacifico launched its newest conservation and environmental education project. With generous support from the US Wildlife Service and the Private Reserve Network, we are taking steps to protect Neotropical Migratory Birds (NMB) and key habitats across private reserves located in the Paso del Istmo Corridor, Rivas Isthmus, Nicaragua. The area provides refuge to at least thirty-six NMB species of Conservation Concern and is an important land bridge for migrating swallows and raptors.

Paso Pacifico’s Nicaraguan Bird Coordinator and ornithologist Juana Isabel Matamoros has been hard at work providing training to over fifteen high school teachers who work at schools throughout the Paso del Istmo. U.S.-based ornithologist and science educator, Lynn Crew, recently joined Juana Isabelle to facilitate the new program. Together they are training teachers to educate their students about Neotropical Migratory Birds, partly in preparation for International Migratory Bird Day (IMBD) and also in preparation for a long-term education program about native and migrating birds.

Paso Pacifico looks forward to the IMBD Celebration that will involve several local communities throughout the Paso del Istmo. It promises to be an exciting day both for Nicaraguan communities and for conservation on a large scale.

Endangered Hawksbill turtles tagged

2009-07-20T13:18:00.001-07:00

Paso Pacifico is proud to announce that our rangers together with sea turtle scientists from the Proyecto Carey! have measured and tagged two critically endangered Hawksbill turtles. They were encountered and protected by our rangers on June 30th 2009 near the beach ‘La Flor’, a well known mass nesting olive ridley beach along the country’s southwest coast. These turtles will provide critical conservation information for what is one of the most endangered sea turtle populations on the planet; the hawksbill turtle in the eastern Pacific. The information generated will be used to help guide future research and conservation in the study region.

This huge achievement was made possible thanks to Alex and Ingrid of Proyecto Carey! and to the Eastern Pacific Hawskbill Inititiave, the Nicaraguan Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), the Nicaraguan Sea Turtle Network (Red Nica), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the USAID, the US Forest Service International Institute for Tropical Forestry, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

You may follow these turtles here:

http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/index.shtml?project_id=295

Jornada de Limpieza Submarina

2009-04-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

We're getting ready for our first-ever harbor clean up in San Juan del Sur. Along with the usual coastline clean-up crews, we'll be working with teams of boaters and divers to pull up, haul away, and inventory inorganic waste on the bottom of the bay (presumably mostly abandoned nets and traps).

Wokring with the Municipality of San Juan del Sur, the Reef Foundation, and San Juan del Sur CANTUR, we'll host a Harbor Clean-Up Day.

If you're in the area, and willing to get your hands dirty, join us Saturday, May 9th at 8am in front of Restaurante El Timón. If you plan to clean the harbor floor, bring your diving equipment. If you plan to help clean up the beach or the banks of the Rio San Juan del Sur, come prepared to walk in the sun for a couple hours.

The Cantur San Juan del Sur (the association of small and micro-businesses in the tourism industry) has also written about it (in Spanish) on their blog.

Fellow supporters of the event include these people, organizations, and businesses:

Project Aware
Restaurante El Timón
Restaurante El Globo
Empresarios turísticos de San Juan del Sur
USAID
ITTF
Ejército de Nicaragua
Capitanía de la Fuerza Naval de San Juan del Sur
Fundación Arrecife
Escuelas de Buceo de San Juan del Sur
Estudiantes
COTUR
CANTUR
Fundación Centro Empresarial Pellas
Empresas del Grupo Pellas
Fondo Natura
Claro y Estesa

Protecting Sea Turtles to Promote Eco-tourism

2009-04-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

We've officially launched our sea turtle program in the Rivas province, and La Prensa picked it up to share the story with the rest of Nicaragua.

The campaign, designed to protect critically endangered sea turtles who nest on the beaches of Nicaragua, include environmental education, water conservation, eco-tourism, and local development. It also includes a sea turtle incentive payment program described by country director Liza González:

Es un programa de incentivos. Si hay un comunitario que normalmente se llevaba los huevos de ese nido, entonces el programa va a apoyarlo, si él quiere proteger ese nido va a recibir un incentivo por protección, ese incentivo es equivalente a lo que él ganaría si vendiera los huevos.

The sea turtle payment program offers financial incentives for communities, where turtle eggs were often harvested (or poached) before they hatched, to protect the turtle nests. We pay individuals and make community grants for every protected nest and every turtle hatchling who makes it to the sea.

To support this program, buy one of our sea turtle shower timers, designed to remind you of a very good reason to conserve water.

A Small Place on Planet Earth

2009-04-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

Over at the Cantur San Juan del Sur blog, they're helping us gear up for Earth Day, by advertising our first ever Earth Day Forum.

We'll be in San Juan del Sur, "a small place on this wonderful planet Earth, endowed with exceptional and endless beauty" April 22nd and 23rd, making it Nicaragua's Earth Day headquarters.

The goal of the event is to celebrate the natural beauty of the region and to remind people that our economic growth as a tourist destination depends on the conservation of its natural heritage.

Supporting us in this endeavor are the following organizations and agencies:

the Rural Community Tourism Association of Miravalle (ATRUCOM)
the Municipal Tourism Commission (Coture)
Cantur San Juan del Sur
Community Tours Ostional
the Environmental Unit Municipality of San Juan del Sur

Saving Yellow-naped Amazon Parrots in Nicaragua

2009-03-26T22:49:00.000-07:00

Our parrot video is now available in English!

Lora Nuca Amarillo

2009-03-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

Please watch our video addressing the issue of poaching parrots in Nicaragua.

Once abundant in tropical forests, the Yellow-naped parrot (Lora Nuca Amarillo in Spanish) is increasingly rare in Nicaragua, where habitat destruction and poaching have reduced its numbers rapidly.

Poachers are often young rural farmers who climb over 15 meters into trees or chop down trees to take parrot chicks out of their nests. Yellow-naped parrots only have one clutch per year (usually just one to three eggs), and are monogamous, so if they lose their mate, they are out of luck for the rest of their lives.

In addition to environmental education which helps children understand the importance of the species they share the forest with, we're currently caring for orphan parrot fledglings. These parrots were confiscated by the army near the border of Costa Rica, where the poachers were presumably taking them to sell. We are advising the army on the care of the parrot chicks until the Ministry of Environment authorities decide what to do about them.

Gracias, Ostional!

2009-03-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

We're so pleased with the level of involvement at our community meeting in Ostional, where we have launched an initiative which includes environmental education, a sea turtle incentive payment program, and kayak guides to take eco-tourists through the mangroves.

Community Tourism at the feria.

2009-03-12T23:50:00.000-07:00

The Ostional community guides spent the weekend at Las Galerias Mall in Managua to share their story and to promote Ostional as a tourism destination. Guided tours range from bird-watching hikes, to sea-kayaking trips. All guides (first four young women on the left) are young members of the local community. They are proud to know that they will benefit from ecological tourism.

Cleaning up the Coast of Nicaragua

2008-11-16T22:37:00.000-08:00

Well, our first ever International Coastal Clean-up event in Nicaragua turned out to be a big success! We had over 1000 people picking up garbage at over 25 beaches across Nicaragua. This is the happy face of a job well done!

Habitat-Friendly Farming and Landscaping

2008-10-28T11:56:00.000-07:00

At Paso Pacifico, in addition to working with donors, government entities, and other NGOs, we also work with private landowners to foster cooperation and habitat-friendly farming and planting and land-use practices.

Especially when working with home and hotel developers, we strongly encourage the use of native flora. We believe a healthy native plant population is one of the keys to saving many birds and other species from extinction.

We understand the desire to plant a bunch of palm trees and colorful euphorbia, instead of the pretty, drought tolerate natives, but one of the most important things to remember is that though we are in the tropics, we are in a tropical DRY forest zone.

Finding "Gold" in Latin America

2008-10-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

We're thrilled to be featured at the Ecosystems Marketplace in a story about a project auditor with the Rainforest Alliance.

Jeff Hayward: Quantifying Carbon, Communities, and More

Last January, Hayward spent a week visiting a new project in southwestern Nicaragua. Here, large landowners graze cattle on their acreages while farmers hold on to smaller plots of land. At the same time, tourism is booming, with beachfront hotels luring both the Nicaraguan elite and international visitors.

This is all happening in a rare ecosystem: the dry tropical forest.

Environmental NGO Paso Pacifico has been working to protect these forestlands with a range of strategies for the past three years. The organization didn't initially aim to create a carbon offset program, but with the help of an interested landowner, they designed the Return to Forest project to reforest more than 400 hectares of private cattle lands.

After reviewing the project in his Washington, DC office, Hayward spent a week in Nicaragua with Paso Pacifico's directors. They visited landowners and evaluated their properties, met with stakeholders and the community members who do everything from work in nurseries to plant trees.

The Ingredients of a Successful Project
Hayward says that, over time, he's developed the ability to know going in which projects have the highest chance of success.

"The first clue is a well-run organization with a really concrete set of goals and objectives, and the institutional capacity to make it happen," he says, adding that in Paso Pacifico's case there was a high level of trust between project organizers and the community. Every landowner had signed a contract with the organization, and they had the original titles to the land, the inscription documents, with everything signed and stamped.

Then Hayward and Rainforest Alliance look at the project's environmental and social impacts. Are the right tree species being planted? How does the project aid biodiversity? And, how's the community relationship — are materials in a local language? Are they explained in a way that a non-scientist can understand?

Hayward found a variety of elements that linked environmental goals with the community, including environmental education programs in six communities, training for community members to work in reserves, and developing signage and information on the project in the local language. Paso Pacifico also collaborates with national and international researchers who are studying wildlife, including the yellow-naped parrot and spider monkeys, which will allow the project to study biodiversity over time.

Surviving the Audit
In April, 2008, Paso Pacifico's project was validated under CCB standards and received a "Gold" designation — the highest rating a project can receive.

"I think one of the reasons it is a really good project is that, deep down inside, it really is a conservation project and that's why it conforms very well to the CCB standards," says Paso Pacifico executive director Sarah Otterstrom.

That doesn't mean the project's validation was a sure thing — the auditing process may be as nerve-wracking as one from the tax inspector. Hayward "commands a great deal of respect," Otterstrom says. "He had us shaking in our boots before and during — basically until the audit was over."

Otterstrom describes his holistic knowledge of forestry, offsets, and working with local communities — and says that while he made the audit process as transparent as possible, Hayward required the projects' leaders to develop their own approaches to potential problems.

"It just demonstrates his professionalism about auditing and holding projects to the standards that Rainforest Alliance/SmartWood is trying to support," she says.

The auditing isn't over, either. CCB validation lasts for five years, so Rainforest Alliance auditors will return in 2013 to monitor the project's progress; a series of annual project audits will also take place until then. After this, an on-site audit will be done every five years for the project's planned 40-year lifetime.

Blogging Conservation

2008-08-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been many months since I established this blog and not a single post. Doing Conservation is very time consuming, and a blog for our organization always seems to go to the bottom of the priority list. One day we will have an amazing volunteer or intern to maintain our blog, or I will become more effective at time management and dedicate some time each week to blogging, but until then, thanks for your patience...you can always visit our website http://www.pasopacifico.org