Edition: March 2013

Conservation in ACTION

We are excited about our new Environmental Leadership and Entrepreneurship for Geotourism project. Thanks to technical assistance from theInter-American Development Bank (IDB) and its Multilateral Investment Fund, this three-year effort will support community-based sustainable tourism and biodiversity management around the Paso del Istmo Biological Corridor.

Building on our ELLAS Intiative, first introduced at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), this project received support from IDB via the Ashoka Changemakers NatGeo Geotourism Challenge, Places on the Edge — Saving Coastal and Freshwater Destinations. Thank you to all who voted and helped us advance as finalists.

With local partners along the coast, including our networks of fishermen and female geotourism entrepreneurs, we will strenghten leadership to further map fishing areas, train reef rangers, and help more rural women launch new microenterprises in the field of sustainable tourism.

The women in our network already run tree nurseries, hostels, and restaurants, and last year, our turtle rangers trained several women in Ostional to run their own sea turtle nursery (pictured above Jairo Coronado helps them protect and count hatchlings). Now we are developing a system of conservation credits to help tourists fund the turtles they protect. Combined, these marine projects will serve as a small-scale model for establishing a Marine Protected Area (MPA) and empower coastal communities as environmental stewards.
Paso Pacífico in the News

Last month, Paso Pacífico's Abril Perez and 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):


Abril and Julie also appeared on three other morning news showst to discuss this important program, made possible through funding from CAFTA and the EPA. We'll share those videos as they become available.
Partnerships make it possible

Last year, we began a new partnership with Man and Nature, a French organization dedicated to helping the private sector play a role in biodiversity conservation.



Over the next three years, we will work together to rebuild connectivity along two key watersheds in the Paso del Istmo for the benefit of the region's wildlife and communities. Building on our reforestation and restoration programs, this partnership supports continued monitoring and protecting of spider monkeys and expands efforts in watershed management and education.

Man and Nature's model of sustainable development involves sourcing plants used for medicine, food, dye, and other purposes. Working with them, we will support the community-based production of Balsam Fir and Aceituno oil extracted sustinably from native trees, as well as identify other native plants with commercial potential.

Partnering with Man and Nature to gather traditional knowledge of local plants and their uses, we seek to preserve natural and cultural heritage while fostering economic growth.
 

Team member spotlight

Claudia Lucia Torres is a traditional folk dancer who trained at Pureza de María and also has an industrial engineering degree from the IberoAmerican University of Science & Technology. Claudia started at Paso Pacífico as an accounting volunteer in November 2012 and quickly moved into a full-time position as the Finance Administrator in our Managua office. She now shows new volunteers the ropes, often interpreting for visiting scientists who don't speak Spanish.

Claudia is as passionate about conserving Nicaragua's natural beauty as she is about preserving its cultural heritage through dance. We are lucky to have her.

Did you know?
Nicaragua's endangered sea turtles face increased risk at this time of year.

During Holy Week, sea turtle eggs are in especially high demand across Central America as the traditionally Catholic population abstains from beef and turns to turtle eggs as substitutes.

Now is the time to support our community rangers' tireless efforts to prevent poaching.


Help save sea turtles.
Donate today!

We would like to express our thanks to Three Parameters+ Natural Resource Consulting for supporting our Junior Rangers program in Tola, Nicaragua.

Since 2010, Three Parameters+ has partnered with Paso Pac ífico in the rural agricultural community of Villa Eddy Monterrey to support watershed education, protect locally threatened turtle species, and provide hands-on art and science curriculum for over 60 children, 30 of whom just graduated as Junior Rangers.


Thanks to Three Parameters+ support, ranging from school supplies, uniforms, scholarships, and travel vouchers to emergency relief after severe storms, 60 students are better equipped to pursue an education.
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© 2006 Paso Pacífico • info@pasopacifico.org
Carretera a Masaya Km 12.4 • Residencial Villas del Prado, Casa No. 7 • Managua, Nicaragua
Phone: +505-2279-8423 or +505-2279-7072
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