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For the past 14 years, Paso Pacífico community rangers have roamed the fragmented dry forest of the Paso del Istmo looking for black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Balking local tradition, these locals do not intend to hunt the monkeys for meat or to capture the babies for the pet trade. The rangers seek to protect, understand, and observe these endangered primates. And they are succeeding.
Thanks to the conservation you make possible, the black-handed spider monkeys where we work are beginning to recover. The rate at which we encounter spider monkeys has increased by over 200% since 2010. Hunting and poaching have decreased in areas that we monitor, in part thanks to our environmental education efforts. Our reforestation efforts are also making a difference. Just in the last three years, we partnered with 14 rural farmers to plant 21,620 native trees, many of which are fleshy fruit-bearing species that are preferred fruit for spider monkeys. These trees and many others were planted specifically to reconnect the monkeys’ habitat, restoring fruit-filled forest highways that give this species more of the nutrition and canopy it needs to thrive.
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The lessons we have learned in protecting these primates give hope for their recovery in other dry tropical forests of Central America, including in El Salvador, where Paso Pacífico is launching new programs. Earlier this month, our executive director, Dr. Sarah Otterstrom, and other colleagues identified forest areas in El Salvador where a critically endangered subspecies, Ateles geoffroyi vellerosus, is known to persist.
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We believe that during times of political and social strife, wildlife such as the black-handed spider monkey need our protection more than ever. In the coming months, Paso Pacífico will be raising funds to launch programs to safeguard the future of this species in El Salvador. We invite you to join this effort by giving today.
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Nohemí Velásquez Morales serves as our administrative director in Nicaragua. She began working with Paso Pacífico in 2016 as an administrator for the ELLAS Initiative, a program focused on women-led enterprises in ecotourism. She soon thereafter transitioned to a staff position with our Nicaragua program. Always smiling and ready to help, she handles many important tasks, including financial transactions and logistics.
Nohemí holds an MBA degree from the Universidad Iberoamericana de Ciencia y Tecnología and has also received numerous training certificates in administrative procedures for government and multilateral grants and contracts.
An enthusiastic conservationist, Nohemí enjoys every opportunity to connect with our conservation programs on the ground. She makes quarterly site visits to hold meetings with community rangers and field staff, where she reviews financial procedures with the staff and checks on the status of equipment and supplies. She also lends her expertise to the communities as needed: she recently imparted a workshop on financial management to a group of women. We are very fortunate to have Nohemí on our team and appreciate her dedication and hard work.
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This month, we would like to thank Ginger Woolley. A dedicated conservationist and longtime Paso Pacífico fan, she donates monthly from her modest retirement and always shares our work with friends and family. She loves exploring the tropics “on a dime.”
Ginger cares deeply about our programs that empower women, as she herself has served as an entrepreneur and community leader. While raising three children on her own, she developed a variety of child care programs that have received national recognition. Soon after retiring, she labored extensively with public and private sectors to save one of Utah's most beloved canyons. We are grateful to have the support of this kind and spirited woman.
Ginger is part of our Canopy Club, which is what we now call our monthly givers. Would you like to become a monthly donor? Click here to join the Canopy!
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A recent Paso Pacífico survey of yellow-naped Amazon parrots located just one active nest in the entire municipality of Metapán in El Salvador. Supported by Loro Parque Fundación, we are partnering with FUNZEL and Fundación Enrique Figueroa to protect this precious nest from poachers. One of El Salvador's largest newspapers published the story on its cover. In response, over 1100 readers have shared the story so far. Check out the article here.
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Photo courtesy Nestor Herrera.
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PARTNERS MAKE IT POSSIBLE
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For the past six years, Proyecto Noble has distributed food, medical supplies, water filters and basic school supplies to thousands of students and over one hundred teachers in western Nicaragua. It has also founded the Ostional library (above) and made it possible to contract a dedicated librarian. This program has been crucial to advancing our conservation efforts. Not only does it improve public health, it demonstrates our commitment to the local communities and assures them that our concern goes beyond wildlife.
Proyecto Noble is carried out in partnership with the American Nicaraguan Foundation. The program has developed through the support and leadership of Dick and Nancy Noble. We are deeply grateful to them for making this initiative possible. As Dick and Nancy shift their humanitarian efforts to east Africa, we are actively looking for new partners to sustain this wonderful program. Please email sarah@pasopacifico.org if you would like to become a program partner.
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