Paso Pacifico has been invited to a public forum on climate change for the City of Ventura, January 19th.
Paso Pacifico has been invited to a public forum on climate change for the City of Ventura, January 19th.
Media Contacts:
Wendy Purnell, Paso Pacifico
1-805-643-7044
wendy@pasopacifico.org
Sheila Kennedy, Portable Light Project
1-617-442-0800
skennedy@kvarch.net
It was a chance meeting at PopTech’s annual innovation conference two years ago that sparked collaboration between California-based NGO Paso Pacífico and the Portable Light Project. At the event, Paso Pacífico Executive Director, Dr. Sarah Otterstrom, and Portable Light Project founder, Sheila Kennedy, met for the first time and considered the implications that the project’s simple, solar-powered textiles could have on Paso Pacifico’s conservation efforts in Nicaragua.
Now, just as PopTech convenes again this week, Paso Pacífico announces its launch of Portable Light technology to support the protection of endangered sea turtles and to advance young women as environmental leaders in Nicaragua.
While Portable Light Project systems have been used to benefit social and human health causes in rural areas of Mexico and Africa, Paso Pacifico takes the technology in a new direction. Utilizing locally made bags that incorporate the pliable, light-producing solar panels, the lights enable communities to protect wildlife, and also empower women in sustainable tourism and education. Sheila Kennedy notes, “This is a brilliant three-in-one design that demonstrates how mobile, clean energy can enable education, local economic development, and mitigate climate change.”
Paso Pacifico’s community rangers patrol sea turtle nesting beaches using a Portable Light equipped with a red light adapter designed by Kennedy and her team. In addition to illuminating the darkness, the bags solve a number of challenges that the rangers face. Each bag has the ability to charge cell phones, which allow those on patrol to communicate with each other and local authorities. Their use of renewable energy also eliminates wasted batteries, while providing a durable and sustainable safety measure to rangers working at night. With Portable Lights, local rangers can patrol deserted beaches, deterring poachers who would otherwise devastate imperiled species such as the Hawksbill turtle.
Paso Pacífico also aims to empower young women and girls who have historically been excluded from opportunities for environmental leadership. Paso Pacifico is providing training to young women to work as eco-tourism guides. Portable light will motivate and empower these guides as they lead sea turtle and other evening tours.
Women and girls participating in Paso Pacifico environmental education programs are also burdened with many household chores and are only able to study in the evenings. Portable Lights will be given to young girls who are eager to progress in their learning, but who live in areas without electricity. This initiative to empower women while mitigating climate change is part of the Paso Pacifico Commitment announced at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative by Nobel Laureate Mohammed Yunus.
Kennedy summed it up when she said, “Individually owned, each bag is a portable clean power platform which expands the impacts of local conservation, that charges cell phones, provides renewable light at night for community based education and builds approaches to conservation that empower women in resource protection and sustainable enterprise development.”
Event to benefit Central American forests, wildlife
Noche Tropical
September 11th
Brooks Restaurant
Ventura, CA
We’re in the news at the Ventura County Star:
Local wines, a Latin-inspired meal and stories from the tropics will highlight Noche Tropical, a fundraiser benefiting the wildlife and forests of Central America on Thursday at BROOKS Restaurant in Ventura.
“This fundraiser was inspired by realizing that there are members of the local community who care deeply about the rainforests and wildlife of Central America; these include local business owners who have generously donated to support our silent auction, and, of course, Restaurant BROOKS,” said Sarah Otterstrom, founder and executive director of Paso Pacifico, a Ventura-based nonprofit dedicated to conserving and restoring tropical forests and wildlife along Central America’s Pacific Coast.
For more information or to buy tickets: PasoPacifico.org/NocheTropical
We’re pleased to be joining forces with the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Leon (UNAN-Leon) in Nicaragua. We’ll be working together to do conservation work, conduct research, and provide internship opportunities for students.
To celebrate our new partnership, they’re joining us to help coordinate Nicaragua’s 2nd annual International Coastal Cleanup Day, covering 12 km of beaches along the Pacific coast.
September 4th, 2009
10:00 am
Restaurant Cafe El Garabato
An invitation for members of the press to learn about Nicaragua’s participation in the International Coastal Cleanup Day, co-sponsored by MARENA and the Ocean Conservancy.
Cleanup day activities will take place along 12 Km of Nicaragua’s Pacific coastline on September 19th.
Paso Pacifico and the Red de Reservas Silvestres Privadas have officially joined forces to help to guide our partnership and strengthen Paso Pacifico’s commitment to supporting the Private Reserve Network.
We are very fortunate to be partnering with such a valuable organization and its members.
Please check out the website for the Red de Reservas Silvestres Privadas when you have a chance. You will be amazed at how the membership has grown!
Local artists, businesses, municipal government, and students celebrated Earth Day with us this week. During the ceremony the mayor of San Juan del Sur committed the municipality to planting 50,000 trees as a contribution to the Meso-American Biological Corridor.
Over at the Cantur San Juan del Sur blog, they’re helping us gear up for Earth Day, by advertising our first ever Earth Day Forum.
We’ll be in San Juan del Sur, “a small place on this wonderful planet Earth, endowed with exceptional and endless beauty” April 22nd and 23rd, making it Nicaragua’s Earth Day headquarters.
The goal of the event is to celebrate the natural beauty of the region and to remind people that our economic growth as a tourist destination depends on the conservation of its natural heritage.
Supporting us in this endeavor are the following organizations and agencies:
We’re so pleased with the level of involvement at our community meeting in Ostional, where we have launched an initiative which includes environmental education, a sea turtle incentive payment program, and kayak guides to take eco-tourists through the mangroves.
Interested in what we do? Subscribe to our e‑newsletter to keep up with our work and learn how you can help save nature in Central America!
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Thank you, and welcome!