From the tropical forests of Nicaragua, Happy New Year! This ocelot cat (Leopardus pardalis) was photographed just this month in a forest we are working to protect. Paso Pacifico scientific intern Robert Euwe caught this image in a motion-detecting "camera trap". Paso Pacifico thanks you for your support in 2010 and welcomes your continued interest in the year to come. Sincerely, Sarah Otterstrom Executive Director Donate on-line by Dec. 31st to receive a...
From the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Nicaragua Sea Turtle Conservation Program we are pleased to announce the new WCS-Nicaragua Youth Group blog. This blog has been created by a group of young adults from Pearl Lagoon, located on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, as a tool that allows them to broadcast their activities in support of sea turtle conservation while learning computer skills and engaging them in collective writing. We...
From this month's CAVU newsletter: The first of CAVU’s three films released this year was created in collaboration with NGO Paso Pacífico. “Paso del Istmo” is a narrow ribbon of land between the vast Lake Nicaragua and the Pacific Ocean which harbors remnant dry tropical forest, and species such as spider monkeys, yellow-naped parrots, freshwater bullsharks and mass arrivals of olive ridley sea turtles. It is a crucial land bridge...
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species of the Day is the Green Turtle. The Green Turtle, Chelonia mydas, is listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. This long-lived and highly migratory species is found in tropical and, to a lesser extent, sub-tropical waters throughout the globe. The Green Turtle has the most numerous and widely dispersed nesting sites of the seven turtle species. Green Turtles...
(Liza Gonzalez Director of Paso Pacifico in Nicaragua meeting with the Nicaraguan National Surf Team) This year's Central American Surf Championship took place on November 19, 20, and 21 at Madera San Juan del Sur Beach in Nicaragua. Paso Pacifico partnered with Nicaragua's National Surf Team to promote the preservation of a healthy marine habit in Nicaragua's Paso Del Ismo. The event featured 80 of the best surfers in Central...
From this month's Science Roundup: Sustainably managing common natural resources, such as fisheries, water, and forests, is essential for our long-term survival. Conventional analysis assumes that groups struggle to manage common natural resources because of free-riders and people who will maximize short-term self-benefits at the expense of long-term sustainability (the so-called "tragedy of the commons"). However, behavioral laboratory experiments have shown evidence that "conditional cooperation" -- individual cooperation contingent upon the cooperation...
ScienceNow has good news for those of us planting trees: "Research shows that deciduous tree leaves, such as those from the maple, aspen, and poplar, suck up far more atmospheric pollutants than previously thought."
My first time to Nicaragua, I spent a week in an old pick-up truck we parked on a hill each night so we could jumpstart it each morning. We traveled the Paso del Istmo biologicial corridor from one "unconnected" place to another. Along the fertile coasts and in the arid mountain forests, we saw (or heard) amazing wildlife, and met dedicated people who were excited to share everything they knew...
Earlier this month, the first ever Census of Marine Life was published, a culmination of a decade of research. Nearly three thousand scientists from around the world worked together to establish an oceanic baseline for future study. The census includes over 240,000 marine species (presumed to be 25% of the total number of species in the worlds oceans) and has three points of focus: diversity distribution abundance "The census found...
The Yale Project on Climate Change Communication has just released the results of their study on Americans' knowledge of climate change. Among the important findings are that, when it comes to climate change, many Americans "misunderstand the causes and therefore the solutions." Large majorities, however, correctly understand that planting trees and reducing tropical deforestation would reduce global warming if they were done worldwide. We hope this means that more people will support our...
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