By: Kelly Haggerty Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.- Margaret Mead Margaret Mead, a famous anthropologist who received a lot of criticism for her work,became a legacy. She experienced discouragement and doubt on her beliefs and points, but continued to do what she loved and felt a purpose in. Believe it or not, I feel the same way. As an Anthropology major and Geography minor with a concentration in conservation at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania; many people don’t...
News + Stories
Love has been in the air for our friendly sea turtles nesting along the beaches in the Osa Peninsula. Over the past few months, La Programa de Tortugas Marinas has been following the nesting habits of sea turtles on the Piro and Peje Perro beaches in hopes of finding out more about the number of turtles nesting on these shores. These beaches happen to be two of the most critical locations for nesting in the Osa, which makes this research extremely vital. Staff has been monitoring this project...
Sea Turtles Galore! We just wrapped up the peak sea turtle season here in Osa and are proud to announce that this year we released over 20,000 baby sea turtles! The hatchlings were from nests relocated to our hatchery because they were vulnerable to predation or to the whims of the river that runs along and often through the beach OC monitors. Since these nests were likely to have been lost altogether, our hard working volunteers and staff have given 20,000 more sea turtles a chance to make it in this...
Marine Conservation, Science and Research, Sea Turtles / 11.12.2015
La Vida en el Paraiso
Written by: Sukee Bennett There’s something about measuring squirming sea turtle hatchlings that automatically puts a smile on my face. But this batch of babies was extra special. They were from a nest that I relocated on my very first patrol on Piro, way back in the beginning of September. A little over fifty days later, and the ping-pong shaped eggs I once placed in a bucket and buried in the hatchery had resulted in one hundred flipper-flapping babies. I was enthralled. Flash-forward two hours later, when my fellow Research...
Uncategorized / 04.12.2015
Promoviendo Rios Saludables con las Comunidades de Osa
Escrito por: Tabea Zimmerman Este viernes y sábado Diciembre 11-12, la Estación Biológica Piro se llenó de actividades con motivo del taller de Ríos Saludables de Osa (RSO). Catorce miembros de comunidades alrededor de la Península de Osa, así como empleados de Conservación Osa (CO) se reunieron para conmemorar y reflexionar acerca del primer año del programa de monitoreo de ríos y también para pasarlo bien. Las metas del taller incluyeron: proveer un espacio donde los (nuevos y no tan nuevos) participantes tuviesen la ocasión de conocerse, dar entrenamiento y práctica sobre los protocolos...
Written By: Tabea Zimmerman On Friday and Saturday, December 11-12, Piro Station bustled with activities from the Ríos Saludables de Osa (RSO) year-end workshop. Fourteen community members from across the Osa Peninsula plus four staff members gathered for a time of sharing and reflection, re-training, and envisioning for what Ríos Saludables would like to achieve in 2016. Our workshop goals were for community volunteers and staff to get to know each other (we had several monitoring groups join us for the first time!), to provide training and practice with all monitoring protocols, and...
Science and Research / 30.11.2015
Stick Insects in the Osa
[caption id="attachment_8787" align="alignleft" width="300"] Male of Calynda coronata[/caption] In early November 2015 we traveled to Osa in order to research the stick insect fauna of the Peninsula. It was due to the kindness of Max Villalobos, the Operations Manager of Osa Conservation, that we were allowed to search and collect in the Osa Conservation area. Stick Insects (Phasmatodea) can be found in Costa Rica with 3000 species currently known in the tropics around the world. They are herbivores and well-known for resembling twigs or branches. Therefore, they have great camouflage....
Miscellaneous, Sustainable agriculture, Volunteers and Visitors / 13.11.2015
Going ‘nuts’ at Finca Osa Verde
Our Finca Osa Verde consists of 600 acres of pasture and forest, as well as 1.1 miles of sea turtle nesting habitat. Osa Verde includes a small farm that supplies Osa Conservation’s field station kitchen and dining halls with all types of fruits and veggies; from lettuce, to peppers, yucca, bananas, and rice. This week we collected peanuts from the Finca Osa farm and volunteers, research assistants, and staff members joined forces to create organic peanut butter for the very first time. The process is quite simple and the peanut butter...
Environmental Education, Miscellaneous, Science and Research, Volunteers and Visitors / 06.11.2015
A little luck and a fun(gi) story
Read about Grace Leppink's experience in the Osa as she makes exciting fungi discoveries! Fungi are found throughout the world, but some of the most amazing and diverse fungi are found in Costa Rica. The combination of deeply shaded forests and a warm, humid climate makes Costa Rica the perfect incubator for fungi. As a new mycologist, the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica was one that I could not pass up. On my first day at the Piro Research Station I had an exciting and lucky encounter with fungi. [caption...
Marine Conservation, Sea Turtles, Volunteers and Visitors, Wildcats / 23.10.2015
My Experience in the Osa
Hello my name is Kenroy and I am a student at the Professional Technical College Sabalito (Costa Rica), a school in which students can study rural tourism. Over the past three years of studying in this program, I have learned the importance of tourism in Costa Rica. At the end of our three year program, students choose a place for supervised practice, in my case I chose Osa Conservation. This organization carries out projects related to volunteerism and research, in addition to the monitoring and conservation of wildlife. Osa Conservation...