August is the month of National Parks, as well as the Anniversary of neighboring Chirripó National Park. This year we celebrated the importance of these protected areas in a joint event along with the Buena Vista primary school, where Cloudbridge has also concluded the eight modules of the CONUBI program this year. Students, parents, teachers and Cloudbridge volunteers planted about 60 trees on a private farm which provides the spring-water for the local aqueduct. Spending time in nature with children and their parents and teachers is an excellent opportunity to foster environmental awareness and appreciation of nature.
Some of the children were able to receive their CONUBI certificates out in the field : ) 20 children from the Buena Vista School, as well as students from the school of Palmital, have completed the eight modules of the CONUBI program this year. In addition to these two schools, 6 other schools in the region have received this educational program through the support of ASANA and Los Cusingos.
Speaking of trees, we are excited to announce that the new dates for the tree course with Nelson Zamora are October 17-20, 2024. Please contact Greilin at research@cloudbridge.org if you are interested in taking part in this course. Since planting trees is an important part of what Cloudbridge does, we are thankful to the National Electrical Company´s reforestation efforts and nurseries, and for the large amount of trees that we were able to receive from them this year. What a great service!
On a completely different note, we would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Costa Rican para-athlete Sherman Güity for his Gold Medal in the 100 meter dash in Paris 2024, setting a new Paralympic record! Three years ago in this blog we highlighted his outstanding performance in Tokyo, with a gold in the 200 meter distance and silver in the 100 meters. It remains to be seen if he will continue to make history in the coming days.
Researchers and Volunteers
Hi! I am Daphne, a researcher from the Netherlands. I am at Cloudbridge for three months to study the impact of visitors on animals. With my research, I look at both the perspective of people as well as at animal observations. Cloudbridge gives me a good opportunity to study human-nature relations. I like being at Cloudbridge so far, surrounded by the beautiful cloudforest!
My name is Conrad Tolsma. I am a biology student from the Netherlands currently doing my graduation project at Cloudbridge Nature Reserve. My research focuses on the temporal and spatial niche partitioning of the six felid species in the reserve, using camera traps to monitor their behaviour and distribution. Being at Cloudbridge is an incredible experience, and I like all the diverse activities we engage in, such as night hikes, birdwatching and other fieldtrips. In my free time, I am all about nature photography. It’s rare to find me in the forest without a camera in my hand. What fascinates me most about the cloud forest are the specialised species here, shaped by the unique geographical and ecological conditions of the location.
My name is Toran I’m from Australia, I’m here in Cloudbridge researching the temporal-spatial distribution and density of carnivores in in the reserve hoping to learn more about their behaviour and ecology. Using pattern analysis software and camera trap images I’m learning more about which cats are living where on our beautiful reserve.
Pics from around the reserve
We are pleased to have more Ornate Hawk Eagle sightings on the reserve, including a recent view of a feeding time. Photo credit: Anthony Garita
The Skutch trail is such a unique part of the reserve. Photo credit: Aliza Holloway
Seed collecting in the forest. Photo credit: Mary Plaehn
Suggested Reading
- A recent article in Nature highlights the urgency of protecting certain hotspots of biodiversity and climate resilience that are currently in danger, specifically in the Amazon rain forest.
- This article about Nature-based solutions to the complex problems brought about by climate change proposes that a joint framework on Climate and Biodiversity is a necessary tool to effectively tackle these issues.
- It is important to remember that the effects of climate change are being experienced in real time, with different catastrophic events happening in real time around the world. This month saw parts of the Caribbean languishing from the effects of Hurrican Beryl weeks after the fact.