Blog by David Mattey, Wildlife Protection Technician The White-Lipped Peccary is a threatened species of great ecological importance for the composition of tropical forests. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to protect them, since it is a highly hunted species for its meat. For a few months, before the migration of the peccary in the rainy season, the planning process for community monitoring and protection begins, together with the community's biological monitoring group, members of the Association of Volunteers for Service in Protected Areas (ASVO), who offered their...
News + Stories
Science and Research / 20.11.2019
Conservation Technology: Transforming how we monitor and protect tropical forests
Blog By Eleanor Flatt, Wildlife Monitoring Program Coordinator, Osa Conservation Tropical forests worldwide are in catastrophic danger due to a magnitude of threats. The Osa has seen a 10.4% increase in secondary forest cover since 1987 but some challenges remain, such as illegal selective logging of rare hardwood-timber species and hunting of forest mammals. Selective interior logging is difficult to detect and monitor using imagery from aerial satellites, by the time the information has been relayed back to the rangers the wood has been loaded on to the...
Blogpost by Anna Moragne, Restoration & Rewilding Program Intern, Lehigh University When I came to Costa Rica, one of the things I was most excited about seeing was the abundant wildlife that exists in the Osa Peninsula, including many species that I would never be able to see in the United States. What I didn’t realize was how immersed in this wildlife I would be while working at Osa Conservation. [caption id="attachment_18353" align="aligncenter" width="507"] New interns, Anna and Harris, with professor Don in restoration & rewilding plots during training today....
Blog post by Daisy Pinner-Saunders, Wildlife Conservation Intern To ecological restore tropical rainforests quickly we need to do more than just plant trees. To ensure the success of forest regeneration, wildlife has to be encouraged back to the area, ensuring the reinstatement of vital ecological processes required for a healthy rainforest ecosystem. Here at Osa Conservation we are trialling different restoration and rewilding approaches to do just that. One of our rewilding projects is to bring forest associated bats back to our newly planted restoration plots. The restoration plots...
Blogpost by Reyna Schedler, Intern for the Healthy Rivers Program, Wesleyan University It’s always hard to leave a home and leaving Osa Conservation was no exception. Though I lived there for only two months (a relatively short time in the grand scheme of things), I built a family among Osa’s team and became deeply attached to the dense jungle and expansive beaches that make up the peninsula. [caption id="attachment_18314" align="aligncenter" width="532"] The little cabin Reyna lived on the farm at Piro. Photo: Reyna Schedler.[/caption] At Osa I learned that love looks...
Blogpost By Ali Ruxin Research Field Assistant. Agriculture and conservation are often at odds; at Osa Conservation we’re trying to change that. Through agroecology, we consider the entire ecosystem of our surroundings to produce food in ways that are sustainable for the environment, consumer, and producer. In practice, this means techniques like harvesting corn and then cutting and shredding the stalks to use as mulch on a bed of cherry tomatoes. It means creating bio-insecticides from chilies, papaya leaves, ginger, lemongrass, and gavilana found around the farm to control...
Science and Research / 10.10.2019
A young herpetologist is born
Blog by Marina Garrido, herpetology program coordinator Two years and half ago I was just starting my adventures at Osa Conservation. I started like almost everyone does, as a Research Field Assistant on the Sea Turtle Program. 5 months working alongside Manuel Sánchez, were enough to fall in love with the Osa and discover part of its secrets thanks to him. The Golfo Dulce Poison Frog was one of them. After that, I joined the Restoration Program. I began monitoring tree growth and amphibian populations on restoration areas. Every morning...
Community Outreach / 01.10.2019
Conservation with local focus
Blog by Marco Hidalgo-Chaverri, Ecosystem Resilience and Community Outreach Program Learning means incorporating new ways of relating our experiences with reality. This progression is carried out through two complementary processes: the assimilation of data from the objective reality to the subject, and the redefinition of the subject's relationship with that reality. During the training processes on basic environmental monitoring concepts, members of communities share knowledge about their own familiar experiences. This educational action is part of a process that empowers the members of a group to take over the management...
Uncategorized / 04.07.2019
Celebrando el Día Nacional del Árbol con la Comunidad de La Palma
Celebrando el Día Nacional del Árbol con la Comunidad de La Palma Escrito por Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya Coordinadora Proyectos Botánico–OC Los árboles son componente importante de los bosques y nuestras vidas, sin embargo, la deforestación y tala ilegal está amenazando su existencia y contribuye al cambio climático. Este año, la Organización de Naciones Unidas declaró el decenio de la Restauración de Ecosistemas para fortalecer a gran escala las áreas degradas y destruidas como una medida probada para combatir la crisis climática y mejorar la seguridad alimentaria, el suministro de agua...
Community Outreach, Land Conservation and Forest Restoration / 04.07.2019
Celebrating the National Tree Day with the local Community of La Palma
Blogspot by: Ruthmery Pillco Huarcaya, Botanical projects coordinator –OC Trees are important components of the forests and our lives, however, deforestation and illegal logging are threatening their existence and contributing to climate change. This year, the United Nations declared the decade of the Restoration of Ecosystems in order to strengthen large-scale degraded and destroyed areas. This was initiated as a proven measure to combat the climate crisis and improve food security, water supply and biodiversity. Every June 15 we remember ‘the day of the tree’, an environmental event...