October 2021

October has been another productive month here at Cloudbridge.  Though it’s the height of the rainy season, we have a great group of researchers and volunteers and have been keeping ourselves busy:  putting up signs, repairing bridges, helping with the recycling and of course, conducting research : )  Another exciting development this month was the publication on our youtube channel of the Agroecology module of the CONUBI Environmental Education Program.  Please check it out!

Volunteers cross the improved bridge over the Uran River, on the Don Victor trail.
Maddy with her “ducklings” on a bird survey : ) . Photo credit: Madelyn Peterson
Many hands make light work. Helping with the recycling is a learning experience for many of our volunteers, we are happy to support the community in this way!

Opening the airway for a classmate in the First Aid course. Photo credit: José Herrera

This month, our director Casey was able to participate in a five-day First Aid Training in San Jeronimo with the local Red Cross. This important skill building tool was made possible by the Productive Landscapes program that is being developed in the buffer zones of La Amistad Biosphere Reserve, by the UNDP. We are very grateful, not only for the knowledge, but also the opportunity to spend time in a beautiful community that, like San Gerardo, is a gateway to Chirripo National Park.

Thankfully this is an enacted scenario and not a real-life emergency, however, these are good skills to have! Photo credit: José Herrera

Pictures from around the reserve

Our lovely volunteers and interns pose with a gorgeous Tirrá tree (Olmus Mexicanus) on the Reserve.
Evie enjoys a moment at Vulture Rock.
After recycling, it’s nice to enjoy a drink in celebration of a job well done!
Evie enjoys her home-made Birthday cake!
The emerald toucanet is the smalles species of Toucans in Costa Rica
We have recently expanded the Sentinel trail into a loop, and this lovely spot is part of it!
The peccaries are lovely, not aggressive, large mammals on the reserve. Photo Credit: Luuck Reesink

Suggested Reading

  • The impacts of climate change will be felt on many levels, including people’s health and well-being. Ahead of the important COP 26, health workers from around the world have written an open letter to Heads of State calling for urgent climate action to protect people’s health.
  • As many scientists have recognized for years now, “natural infrastructure” can play an important role to mitigate the effects of climate change (and capture emissions). This month the IISD has published a report confirming that natural infrastructure could play an enormous role in adapting to climate change, with an estimated value in the billions of dollars.
  • It is very important to recognize that the challenges of climate change are compounded by biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse. For this reason, this article argues it is important to not let Glasgow’s COP 26 overshadow other important international conventions, such as the UN Biodiversity Conference.
  • As we know, art and storytelling play an important role in helping people feel the need and the possibility to make positive impacts on the environment. Richard Powers has touched many through his storytelling, and this essay continues to help us understand the intimate relationship that we have with the natural world.
  • To finish this blog, we have this lovely article about a practical way in which we can learn to observe and truly inhabit the natural world, through journaling.

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