Paso Pacifico 101

In October of last year I had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua to learn more about Paso Pacifico and its work in the Paso del Istmo.  The trip was a crash course in all things Paso Pacifico.  In just five short days we patrolled beaches with the Sea Turtle Rangers, climbed trees looking for endangered Yellow-naped parrots, met the Junior Rangers at the Karen Warren & Susan White Spider Monkey Sanctuary and met with a significant portion of the staff.  It was possibly the five most exhilarating and exhausting days of my life and I am so grateful for what we were able to experience and learn from this organization and its members.

By far the best part of trip was getting to meet with so many of the organization’s employees.  I rarely experience such genuine warmth and compassion so quickly after meeting someone and all of the folks we met had these qualities.  They were especially considerate of our language barrier and maintained their composure when listening to us stumble through what little Spanish we could conjure. I understood after meeting these individuals why Paso Pacifico has been so successful.  Their interactions with one another and with the members of the various communities demonstrated the real strength of the organization.  Compassionate people like this are the ones who make conservation happen and who, with persistence, will change the world.

As of earlier this month I am proud to say that now I too am a Paso Pacifico employee.  I will be helping the organization manage its media presence and organize its digital media.  I am proud to now be a permanent part of this community and look forward getting to know them better, hear their stories, and be a part of conserving this amazing landscape.

Salvador Sanchez, Paso Pacifico’s Turtle Program Coordinator, explains the life cycle of a sea turtle at La Flor Beach Natural Reserve.  

Marcela Gutierrez recently joined the Paso Pacifico team and now leads our reforestation project in which we are reforesting two major watersheds.  She was instrumental in the community focus group we attended in the small community of Tortuga.

Paso Pacifico’s Turtle Rangers took the morning to explain to us their work protecting and researching sea turtles at Brasilon Beach north of the community of Ostional.

Julie Martinez leads our environmental education program and is well known in many of the small communities in the Paso del Istmo. 

Daniel Sanchez, one of Paso Pacifico’s Turtle Rangers, took the afternoon to give us a tour of the mangrove forest near the community of Ostional.  His extensive knowledge of the local ecology and gentle demeanor make him a great naturalist and guide.  

Primates in Fragments: Complexity and Resilience

Primates in Fragments: Complexity and Resilience

Primate Populations in Fragmented Tropical Dry Forest Landscapes in Southwestern Nicaragua

The lack of information on how primates respond to habitat fragmentation across a variety of ecosystems and regions hampers conservation efforts in the fragmented landscapes where populations are most threatened.

We investigated the status of primates in the highly fragmented forests of southwestern Nicaragua, a region containing some of Central America’s few remaining patches of tropical dry forest. We surveyed primates in two areas, the Chococente Wildlife Refuge comprising the country’s largest remaining fragments of tropical dry forest, and an area of Rivas just north of the Costa Rican border, where tropical dry forest exists in much smaller, more isolated patches without formal protection.

Of the three species found in Nicaragua, howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) were least affected by fragmentation remaining relatively abundant in both areas. However, capuchins (Cebus capucinus) and spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) were far less abundant and have suffered local extinctions both inside and outside of protected areas. Interestingly, our data suggest that all three species are currently least threatened in the human-dominated landscape on the Rivas Isthmus, the more fragmented study region where forests receive no official protection.

In spite of extensive fragmentation, southwestern Nicaragua’s remaining tropical dry forests may maintain a functioning metapopulation of primates, including populations of the endangered spider monkey. However, reasons why the endangered spider monkey is more common in the more fragmented region are unclear. Our results demonstrate both the surprising ability of primates to survive in highly modified landscapes, and the critical importance of coordinating conservation efforts with private landowners, local communities, and other stakeholders.

Planning for primate conservation in such anthropogenic landscapes must consider historical factors and larger spatial context. In Nicaragua, the local NGO Paso Pacífico has adopted the spider monkey as a flagship species, and is working extensively with landowners and local communities to conserve this species and the forest fragments in which it lives.

Chapter authors are Paso Pacífico's:

Director of Science Kimberly Williams-Guillén
Collaborator Suzanne Hagell
Founder Sarah Otterstrom
Collaborator Stephanie Spehar

You can download the full chapter here. 

Read more about the black-handed spider monkey on our website.

limpieza de costas: registra tu playa

Limpieza Internacional de Costas, este 21 de Septiembre. Ayudanos a limpiar las costas.

Estaremos en:

• Casares
• San Juan del Sur
• Corinto
• Paso Caballo
• Ostional
• Brasilon
• Playa Escondida
• Jiquiliste
• La Flor
• Rio Ostayo
• Rio La flor
• Laguna de Asososca
• y otras playas

No te quedes en casa e inscribete o inscribe una playa. Te esperamos este 21 de septiembre.

Reforestation, Birds & Butterflies

In case you missed it, the August Edition of our Connections Newsletter is online.

Read about:

• Paso del Istmo Reforestation Partnership
• Conservation & Sustainable Tourism Program (CSTP)
• CSTP Coverage in La Prensa
• CHICABRAVA all girls surf camp
• Surf Industry & ESPN Coverage of the Waterman's Ball
• Entomological Museum of León, Nicaragua
• Butterfly Surveys
• Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Initative 
• Billion Baby Turtles T-shirts

Billion Baby Turtles T's

PuruKai's Billion Baby Turtle t-shirt sales support sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica. Our friends at SEETurtles and WIDECAST will save five baby sea turtles for every shirt sold.

Most of our friends know that the Billion Baby Turtles project supports sea turtle conservation efforts like ours. Billion Baby Turtles funds, at work all over Central America, go towards paying local residents to patrol important turtle nesting beaches, protecting turtles that come up to nest, and ensuring that the eggs are protected.

The folks at PuraKai explain their name and business model:

Save five turtles. Buy a t-shirt.

The story of Purakai is the story of capturing the spirit of two great cultures. The name PuraKai is derived from the Costa Rican phrase Pura Vida, and Kai, the Hawaiian word for ocean. Giving PuraKai the meaning of “Pure Ocean”.

As eco-minded entrepreneurs we feel the there is a better way to make clothing. Clothing made without herbicides, pesticides, GMO's, or harmful dyes, without toxic run off from cotton fields polluting our surf, ruining our beaches, and destroying our fragile coastal eco-systems. Clothing a surfer, stand up paddler, freediver, spearfisherman or other water lover can wear proudly.

Advancing Bird Conservation Across the Americas

This week, Sarah Otterstrom, our Executive Director, and Julie Martinez, our Environmental Education Coordinator are at the 5th International Partners in Flight Conference and Conservation Workshop.

We have made a 40-year commitment to bird research and conservation in the Paso del Istmo Biological Corridor. Our integrated approach includes mapping habitat areas, characterizing land cover, reforestation, education, and community outreach. Visit our Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Initiative project profile to learn more.

Read more about our bird conservation initiatives here on our blog.

Cambiando Actitudes y Comportamientos para la Conservación de Aves Migratoria
Changing Attitudes and Behavior for Migratory Bird Conservation in Nicaragua

Educación Ambiental // Environmental Education
Desde hace 2008, más de 300 niños en 6 comunidades han cambiados sus huleras para binoculares. Además, hemos trabajado con más de 100 niños como parte de nuestro programa de “Guarda recursos Junior” para promover la conservación de aves y otros especies en el Paso del Istmo.

Since 2008, 300 children in 6 communities have traded their slingshots for binoculars. Additionally, our “Junior Ranger” program has taught over 100 children about the conservation of migratory birds. 

Conservación // Conservation
Conjunto con propietarios de terrenos privados, hemos reforestado 400 hectáreas de pastizal degradado con especies de arboles que proveen recursos claves para aves migratorios.

We have worked hand-in-hand with landowners to restore abandoned pastures for the conservation of migratory birds by planting tree species that provide key resources for these species. 

Ciencia // Science
En colaboración con el Instituto Internacional de Bosques Tropicales del USFS de los Estados Unidos, desde el 2009 hemos monitoreado las poblaciones de aves migratorios en los fragmentos de bosques más de 30 especies migratorias.

In collaboration with USFS’s International Institute for Tropical Forestry we have monitored the status of migratory birds in forest fragments and reforested areas since 2009. Our team has documented over 30 migratory bird species in our study area. 

Amenazas // Threats
La pérdida de hábitat afecta a toda la biodiversidad de la zona, sobre todo el despale para el establecimiento de potreros. Además ha crecido la presencia de los parques eólicos, con efectos desconocidos en la fauna migratoria.

Habitat loss affects all forms of biodiversity in the area, especially the conversion of forest to pasture. Wind power has grown rapidly in the region, with no consideration of the impact on migratory animals. 

Help us protect and restore migratory bird habitat, monitor migratory bird populations, facilitate bird education, and promote sustainable tourism for birders. Donate today.

Surfonomics: viewshed v. break

In 2002, a surfer named Chad Nelsen enlisted an economist at Duke University to help put a price tag on a popular surfing spot on Puerto Rico’s northwest coast. Nelsen’s idea was novel: to prove that the waves breaking on the beach constituted a multimillion-dollar asset and persuade the local town to take pains to preserve it.

source: Washington Post

Building on advances in natural resource economics, the new field of surfonomics seeks to better understand how waves and the surfers who ride them are driving economic development in coastal communities.

From this this month's issue of Surfrider's Making Waves:  "When the value of a natural resource is unknown, it is often assigned a value of zero."

We may be loathe to quantify the value of nature, but would quantifying nature help us protect it? Our neighbors in Costa Rica are known for ecotourism's contributions to their flourishing economy. Have you ever stopped to consider how much of that can be attributed to surfing?

Perhaps nowhere in the world has benefitted from surfing as much as the country of Costa Rica. Located in Central America, the county was once as impoverished as its neighbors. In the 1980 ’s and 1990 ’s, encouraged by governmental reforms that provided increased safety and improved infrastructure for travelers, surfers began to travel to Costa Rica in droves, due to its multitude of high quality waves, warm water, and proximity to what was then the world ’s biggest surf market - the United States. Costa Rica often used the image of surfing to promote itself to the world, and now boasts the healthiest economy and highest standard of living in the entire region. This is not to say surfing has been the only driving force in Costa Rica ’s success as a tourism economy, but the sport has inarguably had a positive influence. Here are some statistics from Costa Rica ’s Government Tourism Board:

Surfers Visiting Costa Rica in 2006: 100,278
Average Stay: 17 days
Average Spent per Day: US $122
Approximate Revenue Per Person: US $2074
Approximate Revenue for Costa Rica: US $207,900,000
Population of Costa Rica: 4,400,000

Much like many of our enterprising Costa Rican neighbors, Paso Pacífico's geotourism efforts are aimed at helping international visitors understand the ecological significance of the region where we work and helping local community members maintain traditional livelihoods in the face of rapid development. We are grateful to the support of the surfing community (Nicaraguan and international) in our efforts.

Partner with us! If you're a surfer, join our Surf Ambassadors program. If you're an economist, help us with a surfonomic analysis of eco-tourism development along Nicaragua's Pacific coast. If you can't join us on the ground, join us in spirit: donate to our ocean conservation efforts.