We are almost through 2019, a year full of plans, challenges and achievements. The end of the year always means a closing cycle and a rebirth of projects and dreams. Personally, this has been a year full of ups and downs as every other year, but it is a year that I am grateful for.
I feel very grateful for the trust of those who support us: our donors and volunteers, our board of advisors, our consultants and our board of directors. Particularly, I feel grateful for the wonderful team of our foundation that, despite all the difficulties, challenges and problems have been invincible. Their passion for the projects they lead has made them indomitable before the obstacles! Their love to the children, to the communities, to the ecosystems or to the national parks, or their commitment to excellence, I don't know ... I just know that my team members inspire me every day with their effort, their dedication and their creativity. Despite my 19 years working in the foundation, they make working in our organization always a new and exciting experience. Thanks to them our foundation is renewed every day!
I heard that: “A true act of goodwill always sparks another.” Here it is what we have achieved in 2019 thanks to your goodwill:
As we always say, our donors, volunteers and members are the driving force behind our environmental efforts. Thank you for trusting us, thank you for supporting us in one way or another. None of this would have been achieved without you. Please consider continuing to help us in 2020. You can make a tax-deductible donation, both in cash and in kind. Ask us how.
On behalf of all of us who from the Corcovado Foundation family, I extend my best wishes to you for a Christmas and holidays full of harmony and love with your loved ones and a new year full of prosperity, health and peace with our families, communities and the environment.
Wishing you the best,
Alejandra Monge
Corcovado Foundation
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WHY DO WE NEED TO SAVE CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK?
Corcovado is considerate the last remaining Amazonian rainforest in Central America. Locate in the Osa Conservation Area in Costa Rica, Corcovado National Park encompasses 45,757 terrestrial ha and 5,375 marine ha and contains a variety of ecosystems including forests, beaches, coral reefs, and mangrove
Corcovado has an unusually high level of biological diversity, which provides essential habitat for a number of endemic and endangered species, which makes Corcovado, Costa Rica’s most biologically important lowland protected area, according to the Ministry of Environment
The area includes around 25-30 ecosystems. These various habitats support a number of species of plants and wildlife, including a number of animals that are globally endangered, including jaguars, tapirs, and peccaries The fact that Corcovado contains significant populations of large predators such as jaguars and puma reflects the overall ecosystem integrity of the area.
Scientists are still recognizing new and unique biological processes that occur in the Corcovado area. Biologists recently discovered that Golfo Dulce, located just east of Corcovado, is a calving area for both northern and southern Pacific populations of humpback whales. This circumstance is very rare, and may prove essential for the preservation of genetic diversity of this species. These whales pass through the protected waters of Corcovado National Park and the Isla del Caño.
Recently the highly endangered harpy eagle believed to be locally extinct in Corcovado National Park since 1989, was confirmed to still exist in the Park or to have returned.
Corcovado and the Osa Peninsula contain extremely high species diversity. Biologists estimate that the area contains approximately 10,000 species of insects, at least 2,418 species of plants, 700 species of trees, 140 species of mammals, 367 species types of birds, 117 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 40 species of freshwater fish. An estimated 49 species of trees in the area are in danger of extinction, at least 12 of which are endemic to Costa Rica. In addition, the Osa Peninsula is the home of an endemic species of bird and 17 endemic subspecies of birds. Corcovado also contains the most significant populations of large endangered mammals such as jaguars, pumas, ocelots, white-lipped peccaries, and tapirs, on the Pacific coast of Central America. In addition to endangered mammals, there are relatively large populations of endangered birds in Corcovado including scarlet macaws and the great curassow.
Corcovado’s forests exemplify the popular conception of the tropical rain forest, with a multitude of species, very tall trees, spectacular buttresses, large woody lianas, and abundant herbaceous vines.
In sum, Corcovado represents one of the world’s most important sources for future knowledge about rainforest ecosystems and the conservation of biological diversity.
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Costa Rica’s territory covers approximately 51,000 square kilometers and more than 25% of this land is either a national park or a protected area. Costa Rica has 161 parks and refuges. You might have heard of some of our famous protected areas, such as Corcovado and Manuel Antonio National Parks. Although, our tourism visitors love Costa Rica’s biodiversity only a few of the protected area are the focus of their interest. The funding received by the few visited national parks is distributed to pay for the operation of all of those which don’t receive any tourism. Therefore, regardless of their biological importance and their beauty, Corcovado and Manuel Antonio National Parks and others in the country are in shambles, working with a 10% of the operational budget that they require and trying to face the enormous pressure of oh so many human threats.
Amid this struggle, we find our park rangers, living in isolated areas, under very poor conditions and facing very real threats. However challenging their situation, these true heroes of the forest are doing a huge effort to protect the natural heritage of Costa Rica and the world.
Some months ago, we were contacted by Corcovado’s administrator to ask us for help. We say we were born for Corcovado, and we live for Costa Rica. Therefore, our heart always floats back to Corcovado. Working with very limited funding, this national park faces all the possible threats: illegal hunting, fishing and logging, overdeveloping, goldmining and even drug trafficking, are some of their issues.
As part of our efforts we are starting a campaign to solve some of their needs, improve their communication and power system, buy equipment and hopefully at some point hire more personnel. This video is a first effort to create awareness about their amazing efforts. It features the conditions and circumstances under which these everyday heroes of the forest operate. These park rangers will touch your heart with their commitment and their motivation to protect Corcovado, the crown jewel of the national park system of Costa Rica. I hope that you didn’t miss your Spanish class in highschool, if you did, a subtitled version will be uploaded very shortly too. Stay tuned.
Thank you for your support,
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Park rangers fighting hard to protect Corcovado in the most precarious situation!
“My wife is pregnant, I will be here for 20 days without any communication, I won’t be able to know if there is an emergency” said Pablo, this young park ranger, who I had never met before, was telling us about the wonderful feeling that it is to be a steward of one of the most important national parks in the world. He worries about his new family, but he loves his job. I took my 70-year-old mother to meet these young committed guys living in the most precarious conditions. She cried when she heard Pablo’s testimony. As a social worker, my mom is very sensitive to human suffering, but she has also heard it all and she has taken care of people from all walks of life, including sex workers, refugees and the poorest in my country. She was so touched by their effort, their sacrifice, and their commitment. We all were! Forget the Avengers! Park rangers are the real-life heroes fighting to protect the last remnants of low land rain forest in Central America.
These park rangers are working in Llorona operation center at Corcovado National Park. The park ranger camp was placed there, less than a year ago, to stop all the illegal activities that were happening in the area. Hunters, gold miners and drug traffickers were taking advantage of the lack of presence of government authorities there. The tent camp is located along a magnificent coastline in the heart of the most luscious rain forest, in the most amazing surroundings anybody could imagine, but also in the most inhospitable conditions. These men need to walk several hours with their supplies and their personal belongings on their back to get to their placement. There is no cell phone connection, no internet, and no radio reach. They have water from a natural source -hopefully, no animal has peed in it!-. No boat to take them out if, God forbids, there is a snake bite or any other accident.
When you talk to these guys, you don’t hear complains, you hear excitement and motivation, and the strength in the voices of their commitment to their mission! Their anonymity doesn’t bother them, the fact that most people don’t understand how their personal sacrifice benefits our collective community, doesn’t bother them either. They just care that nobody, no one, will damage, poach or invade this protected area under their watch.
The administrator of Corcovado National Park had contacted us requesting our support. They are only getting 10% of the funding that they need to fully operate the park. The park rangers’ uniforms are made of cotton, a very unsuitable material for these hot and humid conditions. If rained on, they will stay wet all day. If they are on a 3- or 4-days patrols, they will remain wet all that time. They need $10,000 to place an antenna to be able to get internet in Llorona, they need to fix their out-boat motor, they need radios, uniforms made of synthetic materials, binoculars, good flashlights and more. As an ally of Corcovado National Park, the Corcovado Foundation, started this GlobalGiving page to collect funding to help Corcovado National Park. Once we have collected some funding, we will pay for some of the equipment and resources that they need and deliver it directly to the park. Also, if you have ideas of companies that might want to sponsor some of these equipment’s or the uniforms, please let us know.
On a side note, On May 11th, we will carry on a massive beach clean up in Llorona and San Pedrillo, with the support of the Osa Chamber of Tourism. We are lining up boats that will help us carry 70 volunteers to clean these beautiful beaches. Plastic from the ocean washes up at these beaches. We will keep you posted about how much plastic we will collect.
I am really really happy with my life” she said... and that was music to my ears.
A few weeks ago, we had a gathering with our “Jaguars” alumni. The Jaguar Youth group was our first environmental youth group, which we put together with the support of the AVINA Foundation in 2003. The program was funded to create environmental leaders and we used the money to do just that. Although we couldn’t predict how much impact this was going to have, our recent meeting 15 years later showed us just how much it worked.
In 2003, Drake Bay was a very remote town that was not easy to get to. It took 6 hours by car and an extra hour by boat to get there from San Jose. There were a few ecotourism businesses that were mostly in the hands of foreigners. Locals would work at these businesses or would cut trees or hunt to make ends meet. Women traditionally stayed at home and girls often would drop out of school early because they had unintended pregnancies or because they had to help take care of their siblings.
Drake Bays first experience with environmental education came this year. Every Friday, I would drive my old Suzuki Sidekick from San Jose to Sierpe and then take the boat to Drake Bay in order to meet the kids the next day. Participants between 9 and 15 years old would meet with me at an abandoned table on the beach, where we would talk about the environment, do beach cleanups and play. Oh, how I loved seeing those happy faces!
With the help of AVINA funding, we managed to put together a multi-day field trip that included visiting projects in coastal areas that were promoting sea turtle conservation, responsible waste management, and wildlife rescue. We took almost 20 Jaguar youth on what was for many their first time traveling outside of Drake Bay. They stayed in hotels and donated housing along the way. Because so few of them had ever eaten at a restaurant before, I had one of my friends host them in his restaurant and serve them as full paying customers. They were able to experience customer service and see how a restaurant operated. We wanted to show them more! In another town, we met with the leader of a group of women who had overcome big challenges and started a recycling program. Later, we stayed in a big house with a pool that a good friend of mine had lent to us. Many of these kids had never seen a pool. They had a lot of fun! Along the way, we talked about Costa Rica, about our conservation efforts, about values, about respecting nature and ourselves. We also talked about reproductive responsibility and rights as girls in Osa have a high percentage of teen pregnancies. That trip was a blast, but I also think they learned a lot. They learned that there was a big world to explore outside of their town and they learned how valuable it was to keep it healthy!
With the support of friends and family we organized many more activities. My husband and our friend Paul donated a scuba diving class, we figured maybe one day they could become dive professionals. Our friend Sabina took the kids to Chirripó National Park which is the highest peak in the country. And our friend Gustavo would take them exploring in Corcovado National Park. These were just a few of the activities we organized.
15 years later, we had a reunion and I could not be happier with what I saw. The giggly little girls we taught were now confident women. They thanked me and the foundation because they believe that their experience with us not only helped them care about the environment but also expand their horizons. They said that when they were done with the Jaguars Youth Group, they were ready to learn more, to study, to experience, to travel and to take care of themselves. Two young women Miriam and Raquel (25 and 29 years old), are now a social worker and a successful entrepreneur respectively. Raquel was telling me how much she liked her life, how happy she is… “really really happy”, she said. She truly appreciates the learning experience and now wants to do the same for other girls. She wants to teach others how to take care of themselves and avoid early pregnancies so they can continue their studies and be anything they want in life. Now, they are promoting conservation from their own workplaces and are ready to give back!! These are the new leaders that AVINA was hoping for.
Sadly, after 2005, my job became more of an administrative job. But we have had several amazing environmental educators after that. Environmental educators that were also role models and counselors to hundreds of children! Federico, Daniela, Alvaro, Mayra and currently Helena have been working with hundreds of kids in the Osa Peninsula. I can’t wait to see what the youngsters from the next generation will become! If they follow the footsteps of Miriam and Raquel they should be just fine!
This project has survived for 15 years because of your support and the support of people like you! Thank you for these awesome 15 years.
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