It´s the rainy season here at Cloudbridge, but that has not stopped us from continuing with our activities here at Cloudbridge Nature Reserve. Throughout the Costa Rican school year, we have been imparting the environmental education program CONUBI in two local schools, the main image shows some participants in the birdwatching class (photo credit: Marilyn Rodríguez). Environmental education and scientific research are both at the center of Cloudbridge´s mission. We are extremely grateful to the donors who support this mission, and who have made possible various important projects in the past, such as with the building of the research lab. This month, we would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to Jane Hartline, who has recently made a generous donation to the science program of Cloudbridge Nature Reserve. Muchísimas gracias!!
Throughout the year, Cloudbridge staff receive various student groups, such as these students from Pitzer College. Students are able to learn about biodiversity and the important role that healthy ecosystems play in supporting human health and well-being. Cloudbridge has an enormous diversity of life in all its forms, and they all interact together, many times bringing benefits to those around them. For example, a plant belonging to the botanical family Piperaceae, (which is being shown to the students in the photo above), has many aromatic chemicals which bring benefits to the animals that consume them. Another member of this family produces the popular seasoning of black pepper, which of course has many documented health benefits for humans.
Many people who don´t study biology or ecology have seen lichen, but would be hard put to answer the question: what is a lichen? It can be such a new concept for many people, to think that the algae, and the fungus (and a cianobacteria or two) are all inhabiting one collective body together. These images allow us to appreciate the fruiting body of the fungal part of the lichen (photo credits: Anne Alma).
Pics from around the reserve
