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Your gifts make all this possible. Thank you!
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CONSERVATION IN ACTION
Like you, we love the trees. Trees create the structure for a "forest community", which is made up of living things that interact as a whole. This month, donations from many of you helped support the forest community pictured above in western Central America.
The dry season is now at its peak. At this time of year, hunters are igniting many wildfires to flush out iguanas, deer, and armadillos. In contrast, the community rangers are out making fire breaks to protect the forest, thanks to your support.
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Because of your gifts, these same rangers are also out on patrol to document primate behaviors and movements, with additional support from the Apenheul Zoo. They also are recording the flowering and fruiting behavior of plants. This plant behavior cycle is known as phenology, and understanding it helps us gauge the availability of food for animals.
Speaking of flowers, did you know that there are over 100 species of native bees in these tropical dry forests? These bees are busy pollinating plants, including those of threatened trees. With assistance from biologist Richard Joyce, wildlife technician Marcos Calero has spent the last four years learning about native bees and sharing his knowledge with 11 farmers who keep beehives. Made possible by your support, these hives provide nutritious and valuable honey for the families who participate in the program. More details can be found on our bee page.
Whether protecting forests from fires or promoting native pollinators, your donations go far with us. Thank you for your support! Start giving monthly to protect forests all year and become a Canopy member today.
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Turtle ranger Liessi Calero Jiménez helps run the sea turtle nursery at Playa El Coco, Nicaragua, and patrols nesting beaches. She has worked with Paso Pacífico for seven years. In her work, she protects nesting sea turtles, teaches about turtles in her community, guards nests, and — her favorite — releases baby sea turtles into the ocean.
Liessi is proud of her daughter, and working for Paso Pacífico has enabled them to improve their lives. All of her work is possible through your donations. Thank you for your support!
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1-minute video: watch Liessi and the turtle rangers at work!
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Thank you for your support!
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The women on our ranger team toured a separate sea turtle program this month, and we are very grateful to our hosts for the visit. Thank you to the biology department at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua in León (UNAN León) and their team at Reserva Natural Isla Juan Venado (IJV) for their time, generosity and support.
Our rangers shared their stories with UNAN León's students and then toured IJV's high-impact sea turtle conservation program. Like the work you support, IJV employs women to lead various aspects of sea turtle protection. Our rangers enjoyed a great sense of sisterhood when they met more women protecting sea turtles. In addition, they delighted in visiting the historic colonial city of León for the first time.
This visit was a great learning opportunity and morale booster for our rangers, who remain the only female turtle rangers in Nicaragua. We send a special thanks to UNAN León's leadership, IJV manager Oscar González Quiroz, and to the Kathryn McQuade Foundation and other donors who help to create these learning opportunities for them. Thank you so much!
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Did you know? You can use the RoundUp App to send your change to support rangers and endangered wildlife!
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ALERT FOR VENTURA AREA READERS
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Today, March 31st, is the last day you can vote to have Target donate to the mission you love. Sign in to your Target account, go to your Target Circle dashboard, and go to "Voting" or "Community Support" to cast your vote today!
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A scholarship fund for Latin American rangers has been named after one of our founding board members, Rick Smith (the gringo with our first group of rangers, above). As part of a varied career grounded in the U.S. National Park Service, Rick worked to provide opportunities to all rangers to grow in their leadership and connections with each other so that they can better protect nature.
Administered by the Association of National Park Rangers, the scholarship named after Rick will provide funds for Latin American rangers to visit the World Ranger Congress. You can contribute to the Rick Smith Honorary International Fund by selecting his fund in the dropdown and making a gift here.
Rick helped start and mentor our community ranger and Junior Ranger programs (read a journal article about his work here). He continues to donate and offer counsel and advice. Community rangers (and donors like you who support them) are cornerstones of our conservation efforts, and Paso Pacífico would not be the same without Rick's help. Thank you for donating with Rick to support this work!
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PARTNERS MAKE IT POSSIBLE
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Led by Adelayde Rivas Sotelo, Set Net Communications has been supporting us for over 12 years with photography, videography and other aspects of press and public relations. Last year alone, they helped widen the movement around the International Coastal Cleanup and documented the extraordinary participation in our Christmas Bird Count.
We are grateful to Set Net Communications and the partners who support this high-impact Central American communications firm. You make wonderful things possible.
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Thank you to all the photographers who contributed photos used in this e-newsletter! These include but are not limited to Adelayde Rivas/Set Net Communications, Jorge Paniagua, Hal Brindley/Truly Wild, and Paso Pacífico staff members Jarinton García, Marcos Calero and Yorlin Vargas.
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