March 2021

We are thankful for the many research interns and volunteers who have joined us over the last couple of months, enabling us to conduct more surveys and other research tasks on the reserve. The camaraderie of our lovely group has been great!

Researchers and volunteers enjoy a night tour.

This month we have acted on the advice of one of our herping interns and dug out a boggy area in the reserve to make a shallow pond, thus providing better habitat for frogs. Many frog species lay eggs in bodies of water of this sort, and we are excited to see how it will be used over the coming months!

UNED student Gabriel Zuñiga shares with some of our interns information about his pollinator research here at the reserve.

We are pleased to be able to continue collaborating with the San Gerardo recycling project!

Another exciting development from this month is that we have now officially applied to the International Dark Sky Association, as we have beautiful dark skies free of light pollution here at the Reserve. Our first related activity will take place this coming Earth Day, April 22nd, with star-gazing and other activitis. This day there will also be a meteor shower.

Volunteers and Interns

It was such a pleasure to have our “INA girls” with us for two weeks this month.
Amongst the many lovely activities our interns can enjoy together, yoga classes with Mayi are a standout!

Hello, I am María, I am 22 years old, I am student of tourism guide in the INA Los Santos, I live in zona de los santos, but I am doing my practicum at Cloudbridge. Cloudbridge has been a great experience for me I have been able to learn so much about birds, trees, camera traps, among other things. A very important value here is companionship since we share with some other boys and girls from other countries…

Hello. I am Karol. I am 20 years old. I am student of tourism guide in the INA los Santos, but I am doing my práctice at Cloudbridge reserve. I live in the zona de los Santos. Cloudbridge is a beautiful place, it is one of my best experiences. I have learned a lot about birds, a camera trap project, something very interesting and about trees, which are my favorite natural resource. You can learn close to other cultures since you share with other girls and boys from different countries and it is something very charming and motivating.

Hello my name is Hellen Romero Calderón. I live in the “zona de los santos”. I am a tourism student and I am 20 years old. But at the moment I am in Cloudbridge where I have learned about new cultures since we share with people from different countries. Where you learn to work as a team at all times. Cloudbridge is a place where you do not stop learning new things where each tour is full of happiness. Cloudbridge is a place full of life, full of color from a small insect to a huge tree without leaving behind the beautiful hummingbirds and the restless monkeys. For me, Cloudbridge is the best experience I have had so far.

Wildlife from around the reserve

This spider monkey is just “hanging around”… It was seen with five other individuals, including a little baby!

Suggested Reading

  • Many of you may have heard about how certain types of agriculture have the capability of sequestering large amounts of carbon in the soil, an interesting movie which talks about this is Kiss the Ground. Gabe Brown, a farmer featured in this movie, recently described his experience testifying before the US congress in this article, and I believe his account can teach us quite a bit.
  • An important aspect of climate change that can potentially wreak havoc is the disruption of existing weather patterns or ocean currents. This article explores the dominant ocean currents of the Atlantic ocean.
  • This article is also quite interesting, focussing on the strategies that the city of Miami is proposing for dealing with rising sea levels.
  • As always we like to end on a positive note. This past month, Deb Haaland, the first Native American secretary of the interior of the USA, was sworn in. In this essay, Navajo journalist Len Necefer touches upon why this is important.

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