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Bats and Shade Coffee

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Kim Williams-Guillen, our director of conservation science, has been studying fragmented wildlife habitat and conservation corridors in the coffee-growing regions of Chiapas, Mexico. Like many others, she’s been testing the theory that shade-grown coffee plantations help ensure greater biodiversity in neighboring forests than do traditional cultivation methods, where coffee is grown more intensively in deforested areas (they do). Unlike scientists who’ve measured biodiversity before her, Kim’s focus has been on aerial insectivorous bats.

Using acoustic monitoring and live captures, Kim and co-author Ivette Perfecto have been measuring the feeding activity and biodiversity of bat populations in open and forested areas. Their findings suggest that shaded coffee plantations provide more valuable foraging habitat and that several species of bats commute through low-shade coffee monocultures. Providing valuable ecosystems services (as pollinators and pest controllers), bats are as important to managed habitats as managed habitats are to bats. Kim and her co-author conclude with a reminder that “multiple social, political, and ecological considerations influence which model best suits a region when planning the integration of agricultural areas into landscape-scale conservation plans.”

You can read the paper she’s just published here.

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Threatened throughout its range and long considered locally extinct across wide areas of the western slope of northern Central America, the jaguar (Panthera onca) is a top priority for our habitat restoration and wildlife corridor efforts. Teaming up with wildlife biologist, Miguel Ordeñana, Paso Pacifico is working to mitigate the loss of jaguars resulting from hunting and human-wildlife conflict in the Paso del Istmo Biological Corridor in the Rivas province of Nicaragua.

Over the past six months, Paso Pacífico has documented the presence of multiple jaguars in the Rivas province through camera traps and track surveys. We have captured photos of a male individual and documented tracks of a female with four cubs. We have also conducted over fifty interviews with local people across Rivas, receiving multiple reports of a melanistic jaguar (also known as a black panther) in the area, with the most recent sighting in June 2010. Ocelots, Jaguarundi, and Puma have also been documented through tracks, interviews, and photos across the isthmus.

Ranching is one of the primary agricultural activities in the area where we work, and cattle deaths attributed to jaguars have led to ranchers killing jaguars. Hunting pressure on big cats is increased by the trade in pelts. While the wildlife trade and the hunting of endangered cats are illegal, Nicaraguan law enforcement does not have the resources to respond to threats to wildlife. To protect jaguars, it is necessary to develop direct relationships and with local people and locally-based hunters.

East of Paso del Istmo lies another corridor of concern, connecting to the Jaguar Conservation Unit of Nicaragua’s Indio Maiz Biological Reserve. South of the Paso del Istmo corridor is the Jaguar Conservation Unit of the Guanacaste Conservation Area in Costa Rica. We hope to strengthen big cat populations by creating a buffer through the expansion of conservation efforts across the international border.

You can help us increase protection and improve connectivity for jaguar populations (Panthera onca) in southwestern Nicaragua and the Jaguar Conservation Unit of northern Costa Rica, by donating to our jaguar conservation efforts.

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We’re pleased to partner with SEEtheWILD, a new organization launched to make conservation the next trend in travel. SEEtheWILD is helping travelers become conservation activists by helping them select eco-tourism destinations which are home to the animals they would like to save.

SEEtheWILD was born from the successful initiative SEE Turtles, which links environmentally conscious travelers and volunteers with community-based sea turtle conservation projects. SEEtheWILD expands this model of sustainable tourism to many new species of wildlife including bears, whales, and jaguars.

SEEtheWILD, in partnership with Reefs to Rockies, is now offering a trip to Nicaragua! During this ten-day adventure, travelers will experience this culturally and geographically rich country up close. Their experience will directly benefit Paso Pacifico’s field-based conservation programs. Reefs to Rockies and SEEtheWILD have committed to making a direct contribution to our programs on behalf of every traveler. We are grateful for this support and we encourage you to consider booking a trip with them soon.

SEEtheWILD’s innovative travel offerings will strengthen conservation efforts around the globe.

Congratulations to their team!

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Saturday night Paso Pacífico staff and visiting scientists were rewarded for their good deeds by Mother Nature. They watched the emergence of baby endangered green sea turtles and olive ridley turtles from the sands of Brasilon beach, north of Ostional.

Our dedicated rangers rescued one of the newly hatched green turtles from the claws of a hungry crab with some furious digging into the sand. They spent the evening documenting the numbers of hatchlings from various nests and patrolling neighboring beaches to protect turtles and eggs.

We are pleased with the work of our rangers, and deeply appreciative of everyone who has supported us in our sea turtle conservation efforts.

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Thank you to everyone who has voted for our ELLAS program in the NatGeo Ashoka Changemakers Geotourism Challenge. We appreciate all the support!

El Nuevo Diario yesterday:

La iniciativa “ELLAS” que promueve el Organismo No Gubernamental Paso Pacífico, el cual fue escogida por Geotourism Challenge 2010, auspiciado por National Geographic, Ashoka Changemakers y Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, como uno de los 12 finalistas entre más de 250 participantes de diferentes países del mundo, lo que permite visibilizar el rol de la mujer nicaragüense en un tema de vital importancia para el país, como explicó Liza González, Director Nacional de Paso Pacífico.

The Environmental Learning, Leadership, Adventure, and Stewardship Initiative (ELLAS) por su siglas en inglés, es un programa que da liderazgo a mujeres para colaborar en la protección del Refugio de Vida Silvestre La Flor, San Juan del Sur, Rivas, a través del turismo sostenible para darlo a conocer como un destino conocido a nivel mundial en la práctica del geoturismo.

If you haven’t yet voted, you may do so here: http://www.changemakers.com/coasts

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From Kim Williams-Guillén, our director of conservation science:

There are other smaller caves in Masaya. Park rangers know where they are. I have been to only one, which was a cave with a large colony of vampire bats. In the video (also from April 2009) if you look carefully you can see some females with babies hanging on their chests. Many tropical bat species are capable of reproducing throughout the year, although many will have peak reproduction in the rainy season when fruits and insects are most abundant. To my knowledge, these bats are found in the caves throughout the year. In the dry season, however, bats are easier to spot as they are attracted to pools of water where they come to drink.

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From Kim Williams-Guillén, our director of conservation science:

This is a video I filmed of nectar bats feeding on a jicaro tree in Montibelli private reserve, which is about 30 minutes from Masaya. This video was filmed in April 2009. It’s easiest to watch nectar bats in the dry season (January through April) since that is when many of the tree species in the dry forest flower.

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Last night our turtle rangers spotted a Leatherback sea turtle nesting on Playa Brasilon. They watched over her while she deposited 78 eggs in a nest which they will guard.

Because the Pacific Leatherback is very close to extinction, we are happy to start the new with this, our very first leatherback nest on Brasilon Beach.

 

 

 

 

 

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