January 2023: Update on Four Species in El Salvador

A great egret at Laguna Olomega. Photo by Javier Arias.

Your gifts helped protect whales, birds, and monkeys in El Salvador. Thank you!

CONSERVATION IN ACTION

Your support has propelled us to greater impact in El Salvador. We'd love to update you with a few developments from the past couple of months.

First of all, California's humpback whales have returned to El Salvador to calve and bask in the warm and nutrient-rich waters off the country's coast. With your help, a young volunteer from California named Ula traveled to El Salvador to support our partners at Proyecto Megaptera and Fundación Naturaleza in documenting the arrival of these whales. During her time volunteering, they documented over 20 individual whales! This experience is helping pave the way for more volunteer opportunities and for collaborations that will help scientists better understand how whales benefit from efforts to conserve ocean habitats in Southern California and Central America.

At the same time, you contributed towards strengthening our community ranger team in eastern El Salvador. This team has worked tirelessly to clean up trash in the communities and to raise awareness about protecting forests for the critically endangered spider monkey. Amilcar, one of these rangers, shared the following:

"Before, I did not see how important my community was for wildlife conservation. Now, I know that the work that we do can improve chances for tourism and the survival of this species."

Two yellow-naped amazon parrots seen this month by Carlos Jenkins in El Salvador's capital.

Thank you for your support! You also helped us to aid the Salvadoran government in designing a national protection program for the yellow-naped amazon parrot. As a result, conservation efforts for this species have increased. Now, we frequently receive reports of people seeing these critically endangered parrots in the capital city of San Salvador (see photo at right by Carlos Jenkins).

Your support has helped us build up conservation efforts in the country for these flagship species and others, such as sea turtles. To donors like you, thank you for making it all possible!

Thank you for helping wildlife thrive!

New year, new gift?

Keyla Romero holds a notebook and gestures toward a verdant hillside.

TEAM MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

We are excited to announce that Keyla Romero has joined our ranger team in El Salvador as a part-time manager. Keyla, who grew up near the Olomega Lagoon, brings with her a deep connection to the natural resources of the area and a strong commitment to preserving them.

In her new role, Keyla will be working closely with our ranger team to keep track of their activities and patrols, and to help them organize meetings. She will also serve as a liaison between our California office and the ranger team in El Salvador. We are particularly thrilled to welcome Keyla, as she is the first woman to join our Salvadoran community ranger team. Her contributions and energy are already having a positive impact on our work in the communities.

Aside from her work with our program, Keyla is an active member of her church community and enjoys helping with her baby twin siblings. We are grateful to have Keyla on our team and are confident that with your support, her contributions will help continue the important work in preserving the natural resources of the Olomega Lagoon and surrounding areas.

A Pacific leatherback sea turtle on the beach at night to lay her eggs.

IN GRATITUDE

We are writing to express our sincerest gratitude for your generous support of our annual fundraising campaign. Your generosity raised more than $65,000 to save mother sea turtles and their nests in Central America! We are incredibly grateful for your commitment to conservation in the region.

Thanks to your contributions, our work continues. For example, our partner FUNZEL is currently protecting three leatherback sea turtle nests in El Salvador. Your support is making a tangible difference in the lives of these magnificent creatures, and we are honored to work with you to protect them.

Thank you once again for your generosity to our annual campaign and for your commitment to wildlife conservation in Central America.

Thank you so much for your support!

Vicky Galan holds a bird captured during the workshop.

IN THE NEWS

Earlier this month, a workshop was held in Chihuahua, Mexico that had far-reaching implications for bird conservation across the Americas. Organized by the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies and Cuenca Los Ojos, the event brought together a group of scientists and conservationists to learn about radio telemetry techniques for monitoring movements of migratory birds.

We were grateful to send Vicky Galan of El Salvador and German Quijono of Mexico to the workshop. Vicky was the only woman and Central American in attendance. At the workshop, she and German received valuable training on the use of Motus technology. A workshop highlight was when participants installed a Motus tower. These towers use avian nanotags to detect and track birds, providing valuable information about migration patterns.

By participating in this workshop, Paso Pacífico is helping build local skills for understanding and protecting birds. We thank you, Southern Wings, and the Arizona Game & Fish Department for making it possible for Vicky and German to attend. We look forward to continuing to make a difference in bird conservation across the Americas.

Thank you for empowering women in conservation!

Half obscured by leaves and branches, two black-handed spider monkeys look down into the camera in El Salvador. Photo by Javier Arias.

PARTNERS MAKE IT POSSIBLE

As a valued supporter of Paso Pacífico, you have played a crucial role in stopping the local extinction of spider monkeys and supporting the conservation efforts of our dedicated rangers. Since 2018, the Apenheul Primate Conservation Trust has also supported our efforts to stop the local extinction of spider monkeys in Central America. The fund recently focused their gifts on our primate work in El Salvador. There, our rangers are working tirelessly to protect spider monkey habitat near the Olomega Lagoon.

The Trust is associated with the Dutch primate zoo Apenheul, which has been a beloved institution since its opening in 1971. By giving families a place to see free-roaming primates and learn about the importance of conserving wild monkeys, the zoo helps protect monkeys and other primates worldwide.

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INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Thank you to all the photographers who contributed photos used in this e-newsletter. These include but are not limited to Carlos Jenkins, Javier Arias, Nestor Windevoxhel, and Bismarck Picado.

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