Fire in Masaya

photo of the crater at Masaya
(this is NOT smoke from the current fire)

We're watching the fire burn through the tropical dry forests near Volcano Masaya, where we work closely with park rangers to help visitors understand and appreciate Masaya's unique ecology. The fire in Masaya has burned through 1200 acres of woodlands and is still flaming, threatening the very ecosystems we're working to protect.

Forest regeneration and restoration will take decades. What has taken 10 days to burn, will likely take 70-80 years to recover. As Carlos Mejía, MARENA's director of Biodiversity, has pointed out (in El Nuevo Diario piece below), before this fire started the forests of Masaya were still recovering from the last volcanic event.

Kamilo Lara, an environmental specialist and director of the National Forum on Recycling, pointed out that the tropical dry forests of Masaya are unique along Central America's Pacific slope, and the unique ecosystems it contained will be very difficult to restore.

Fire is a part of life in Nicaragua, and has been used for generations as a means of preparing agricultural land. The effects of fire on forest ecosystems varies from year to year, dependent on climatological cycles. This year, fires in Nicaragua have consumed more than 20,000 acres of protected forests. We are looking forward to the rainy season setting in next month to give forests and wildlife a chance to recover from this year's flames.

***

From El Nuevo Diario:

Restauración de bosque en Volcán Masaya tardará décadas
Fuego acabó en tan solo diez días con un bosque tropical seco único en la región del Pacífico, que contenía importantes ecosistemas muy difíciles de restaurar 

Se necesitarán al menos siete u ocho décadas para que comience su recuperación y más de un siglo para que se pueda restablecer todo lo que fue destruido por el reciente incendio ocurrido en el Parque Nacional Volcán Masaya, así lo expresaron hoy los especialistas...  

Carlos Mejía, director de Biodiversidad del Ministerio del Ambiente y los Recursos Naturales, Marena, destacó que la zonas afectadas, tanto en el Parque Nacional, como en otras áreas del país, nunca se logran reponer en su totalidad y debe pasar por todo un proceso evolutivo muy lento. 

“En tan sólo diez días se acabó con un bosque tropical seco único en la región del Pacífico, que contenía importantes ecosistemas muy difíciles de restaurar”, dijo ambientalista Kamilo Lara, director del Foro Nacional del Reciclaje, Fonare.

El fuego es parte de la vida en Nicaragua, y ha sido utilizado por generaciones como un medio de preparar la tierra agrícola. Los efectos del fuego en los ecosistemas del bosques varía de un año a otro, en función de los ciclos climatológicos. Este año, los incendios en Nicaragua han consumido más de 20.000 hectáreas de bosques protegidos. Estamos esperando a la estación de las lluvias en los próximos meses para dar a los bosques y la vida silvestre la oportunidad de recuperarse de las llamas de este año.


Donate today to support Paso Pacífico's reforestation efforts and help train rangers to better protect people and wildlife from fires.

Promoting Resiliency to Mitigate Climate Change

Working in Nicaragua's Paso del Istmo for nearly a decade, we have seen firsthand the effects of climate change on the wildlife, landscape, and people of this incredibly biodiverse terrain spanning volcanoes, dry mountain forest, mangroves, and coral reefs. 
From deforestation and devastating storms to longer dry seasons, climate change means greater habitat loss for the endangered species we protect, as well as the loss of homes and livelihoods for subsistence farmers and other residents of rural Nicaragua.Ecological and economic resiliency help mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Seeking to protect some of the world's last yellow-naped parrots, black-handed spider monkeys, and Hawskbill sea turtles and the beautiful forests and coastline they call home, our team of dedicated individuals make every day Earth Day along Central America's Pacific slope. 

Here are just a few examples of the work we're doing this Earth Day and every day:

Conservation

• forest rangers patrol our reforestation areas, monitoring the growth of trees we planted to capture carbon and rebuild forest connectivity
• coastal stewards protect coastal mangroves, crucial to cushioning the blow of high energy tropical storms coming in from the Pacific

Science

• community rangers and big cat biologists monitor camera traps to document jaguars and other mammals who traverse our biological corridor
• reef rangers monitor marine wildlife, coral reefs, and local fisheries to understand the marine ecosystem many of the world's most endangered sea turtles call home 

Education

• junior rangers learn about their local environment and work together to share their knowledge with the broader community
• Paso Pacífico staff and partner organizations team up to host water management workshops, beach cleanups, and other activities which help create a culture of conservation

Support our efforts to promote economic and ecological diversity to help mitigate climate change.

Make a donation today.

Help Empower Citizen Scientists

Miguel Ordeñana, the big cat specialist who leads our Jaguar Conservation Initiative, is now at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, where he continues his great work expanding citizen science and local biodiversity programs. Among his projects is an urban wildlife mapping effort through www.iNaturalist.org that will connect people of all backgrounds with nature of the Los Angeles area and encourage citizen science with projects like the Lost Lizards of LA and the Los Angeles Butterfly Survey.

VOTE FOR MIGUEL'S PROJECT TODAY at the LA 2050 competition at GOOD: http://myla2050.maker.good.is/projects/urbansafari

Voting closes at noon Wednesday April 17^th (TOMORROW)!  Also please make sure you register with GOOD to make sure that your vote counts.

Click here for more blog posts about our jaguar project.

Taller de Radiotelemetria

16-17 de abril 2013

Managua, Nicaragua

La radiotelemetría es una herramienta poderosa para el estudio de la ecología espacial de una gran variedad de animales. En este taller, participantes revisarán la historia, teoría, y práctica de la radiotelemetría (16 de abril, Managua), seguido por medio día de práctica en el campo (17 abril, R.S.P . Montibelli) con equipo de telemetría. Cupos limitados. 

Este taller es gratis, sin embargo no incluye comida ni alojamiento, cada participante esta responsable pagar sus propios gastos. 

Dictado por Dr. Thomas H. White, Jr., Biólogo de Vida Silvestre 

Para participar, favor de enviar una carta de interés y CV a Kim Williams-Guillén, kim@pasopacifico.org 

Agradecimiento a Loro Parque Fundacion y Ornithological Council.

TALLER DE TELEMETRÍA 

Dictado por Dr. Thomas H. White, Jr. 

Biólogo de Vida Silvestre 

16-17 ABRIL 2013 

MANAGUA, NICARAGUA 

PROGRAMA 

MARTES 16 DE ABRIL 
OFICINAS MARENA

08:30-12:00 HISTORIA, TEORÍA Y PRÁCTICA DE LA TELEMETRÍA
1. Teoría básica de telemetría VHF ¿Qué es la telemetría?
2. Orígenes y breve historia de la técnica
3. Aplicaciones

A. Especies
B. Ambientes naturales
C. Para estudios específicos (e.g., sobrevivencia, movimientos, rangos, macro vs. micro-hábitat) 

4. Equipos

A. Receptores
B. Antenas
C. Transmisores
D. Accesorios 

5. Técnicas de campo

A. Instalación de transmisores en animales
B. Captura de señales (i.e., “triangulación”)

1. Terrestre
2. Aérea

C. Fuentes de error y como disminuirlas (exactitud y precisión)
D. Localización de “orígenes del punto” de señales 

6. Técnicas analíticas

A. Objetivos específicos
B. Programas (LOAS y BIOTAS,etc.)
C. SIG y SPG (e.g., Arcview, etc.) 

7. Limitaciones y futuro de la telemetría

13:30-16:00 ANÁLISIS Y DISCUSIÓN DE ESTUDIO DE CASOS 
1. Pavos silvestres (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris) – Louisiana, EE.UU. 1983-85
2. Osos negros (Ursus americanus) – Arkansas/Mississippi, EE.UU. 1992-96
3. Cotorras Dominicanas (Amazona ventralis) – República Dominicana 1997-99
4. Cotorras Puertorriqueñas (Amazona vittata)– Puerto Rico 2000-presente


MIÉRCOLES 17 DE ABRIL
R.S.P. MONTIBELLI 

08:00 TRANSPORTE A MONTIBELLI SALE DE OFICINA DE PASO PACIFICO 

08:30-12:30 PRÁCTICA EN EL CAMPO 

INVESTIGACIÓNES USADOS PARA ESTUDIO DE CASOS
White, T. H., Jr., J. A. Collazo, and F. J. Vilella. 2005. Survival of captive-reared Puerto Rican Parrots released in the Caribbean National Forest. Condor 107: 424-432.
White, T. H., Jr., J. A. Collazo, F. J. Vilella, and S. A. Guerrero. 2005. Effects of Hurricane Georges on habitat use by captive-reared Hispaniolan Parrots (Amazona ventralis) released in the Dominican Republic. Ornitología Neotropical 16: 405-418.
White, T. H., Jr., J. L. Bowman, B. D. Leopold, H. A. Jacobson, W. P. Smith, and F. J. Vilella. 2000. Influence of Mississippi alluvial valley rivers on black bear movements and dispersal: implications for Louisiana black bear recovery. Biological Conservation 95: 323-331.
Zwank, P. J., T. H. White, Jr. and F. G. Kimmel. 1988. Female turkey habitat use in Mississippi River batture. Journal of Wildlife Management 52: 253-260.

Safeguarding valuable ecosystems, increasing prosperity

From the Rainforest Alliance:

As the world’s population grows and natural resources dwindle, the creation of parks and protected natural areas is not enough to solve the problem of forest destruction. The Rainforest Alliance believes that it is possible to safeguard valuable ecosystems while still allowing communities and businesses to extract the forest resources upon which their livelihoods depend.  

The farms, forests and tourism businesses with which we work not only manage their own lands sustainably but they also function as an integral part of the larger landscape -- keeping trees standing, preventing erosion, protecting waterways and soils, providing wildlife habitat and reducing the risk of fires and other destructive activities. Together, sustainably managed businesses and neighboring protected areas can form a thriving mosaic that nurtures ecosystems, wildlife and people.

We agree, which is why we combine conservation practices with programs aimed toward increased prosperity for local residents. Working with farmers, foresters, private reserves, and micro-enterprise, our programs are helping the people of western Nicaragua flourish as they share the natural beauty of their home with visitors from around the world.

Can Isolated Coral Reefs Heal Themselves?

Recent findings reported in Science suggest that coral reefs may be more independent and resilient than previously thought.

This is good news for our reef rangers as they begin monitoring and conserving a couple miles of reef islands and the surrounding marine environment off the coast of Nicaragua.

Read more about the reef regeneration study at Our Amazing Planet.

Créditos de Tortuga: turtle credits to safeguard natural capital

The Multilateral Investment Fund issued a press release last week about our Environmental Leadership and Entrepreneurship for Geotourism project:

The Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, will support the Paso Pacifico Foundation in a project that seeks to position Nicaragua as a competitive ecotourism destination that contributes to the conservation of biodiversity in and around the La Flor Wildlife Refuge in the department of Rivas.

The MIF expects that this project will integrate selected communities into sustainable tourism value chains, and will promote the protection of natural capital, especially the region’s sea turtle population, which is one of the key tourist attractions.

Given the turtle’s importance to local tourism offerings, the MIF will support the identification, design and implementation of innovative financing mechanisms for the protection and monitoring of these animals. One of these mechanisms will promote the creation of "turtle credits" - certificates representing a turtle egg not removed from its nest, equivalent to a born turtle - that will be offered to consumers and businesses that support the conservation of marine ecosystem conservation, such as surf and dive shops, medium-to-high-end seafood restaurant chains and NGOs devoted to conservation.

Desde un comunicado de prensa de FOMIN:

Nicaragua: “Créditos de Tortuga” para salvaguardar el capital natural del Refugio de Vida Silvestre de la Flor 

El Fondo Multilateral de Inversiones (FOMIN), miembro del Grupo del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) apoyará a la Fundación Paso Pacífico en un proyecto que busca posicionar a Nicaragua como un destino eco-turístico competitivo que contribuya a la conservación de la biodiversidad dentro y alrededor del Refugio de Vida Silvestre de la Flor en el Departamento de Rivas... 

El FOMIN espera que este proyecto integre a las comunidades seleccionadas en la cadena de valor del turismo sostenible, promoviendo la salvaguardia del capital natural, especialmente las poblaciones de tortugas de la región que representarán la base de los servicios turísticos ofertados del proyecto... 

Dada la importancia de las tortugas para la oferta turística local, el FOMIN apoyará la identificación, el diseño y la implementación de mecanismos innovadores para el financiamiento de actividades de protección y monitoreo de estos animales. Uno de estos mecanismos fomentará la generación de “créditos de tortugas” – certificados que representan un huevo de tortuga no sacado del nido, lo que equivale a una tortuga nacida- los cuales serán ofrecidos a consumidores, y negocios que apoyan la conservación de los ecosistemas marinos, tales como tiendas de surf y buceo, cadenas de restaurantes de pescado de nivel medio-alto y ONG conservacionistas.