Honu Has Returned to Brasilon

This weekend, Honu, the turtle we've been tracking since last month returned to Brasilon beach. You can follow her on her SeaTurtle.org page.

Nicaragua's Jaguars

This fall, Paso Pacífico's team of wildlife biologists and machete-wielding rangers faced huge spiders, floods, earthquakes, and chest-deep swamps to place two dozen camera traps in remote forest areas. Their goal? To capture the elusive jaguars long thought extinct in the tropical forests of Nicaragua.

Two years ago, an intern's camera trap captured one, proving their existence and highlighting the need for their protection. Jaguars require large areas of understory to hunt their prey, making them extremely vulnerable to deforestation. Paso Pacífico's motion-triggered cameras capture carnivores and other mammals helping scientists gauge forest health to prioritize habitat restoration efforts.

Empowering Women with Sustainable Energy

“Reducing energy poverty among women is a wise investment,” said Princess Haya, of the UAE, at this week's World Energy Forum 2012.

We agree, which is why we partner with the Portable Light Project to develop solar textile lanterns made by women in rural Nicaragua, and used by women and children without electricity in their homes, extending their reading hours.

The lanterns are also used by our turtle rangers. During the daytime, the flexible photovoltaic harvests energy from sunlight. At night, the LED light can switch from white to red so rangers can walk the beaches without disturbing the sea turtles. Each bag has the ability to charge a cell phone, which allows rangers to communicate with each other, photograph nests and upload information.

60 Years of Innovation

"We teach them that the ocean is alive and we've got to take care of it."
Jack O'Neill

"The Sea Odyssey Program has given an experience of a living ocean to 50,000 kids already."

Costs & Benefits of Preserving Nature

Mother Jones:

"A global effort to prevent all future species extinctions would cost about $80 billion a year, or $11.42 annually from every person on the planet, according to a study published last week in Science."

Scientific American:

"More specifically, the study finds that lowering the extinction risk for all of the species that are currently known to be threatened would cost the first $4 billion per year. Protecting and managing key habitats would cost an additional $76.1 billion."

500,000 Olive Ridley Sea Turtles

From the Turtle Conservancy's October Newsletter:

Eric Goode along with writer Glenn O’Brien and Kortnie Coles traveled to the Pacific coast of Mexico to witness a natural phenomenon called an arribada (the Spanish word for “arrival”). During a 3 week period, over 500,000 Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) nest on a 3 km stretch of Escobilla Beach in Oaxaca. This nesting event peaks during the month of September. Only three species of turtles exhibit this behavior: Giant South American River Turtles (Podocnemis expansa), Kemp’s Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys kempii), and Olive Ridley Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea). The Escobilla Beach Olive Ridley arribada in Oaxaca is by far the largest.

Climate Change Threatens Staple Crops

From ClimateWire:

Beans and corn -- the staples of the Central American diet -- will become more difficult to grow as climate change progresses, according to a new study.

...

Certain "hot spots" that are especially vulnerable are spread throughout the region, especially in Honduras and western Nicaragua. But other spots, including many areas in eastern Nicaragua and eastern Honduras, will become good adaptation areas for corn and beans through the 2020s.

However, Eitzinger said, moving production to these easily adaptable areas could create a land conflict with forests and risk the loss of trees. 

Hat Tip: Our friends at Climate Action Reserve