Help Costa Rican locals care for 10.000 mangroves

We are very happy! Recently, we have started our environmental education workshops in two public schools in the project area. We are working with the students of Eduardo Garnier School and Valle del Diquís School in Palmar Norte and Puerto Cortés, once a week since march.

Vielka Rojas and Jeannette Porras are in charge of the visits. They are part of the Local Project Implementation Unit (ULI, in spanish) and they both live in the area.  For Fundación Neotrópica is very important to develop capacities in local people, they are the most importan allies in conservation.

The children have learned about the mangrove ecosystem and its importance, and they have worked enthusiastically in a small experimental mangrove nursery. This way they can gradually see the plants growing and may eventually go to the beach for a reforestation day.

In the coming months we will also learn together about climate change and the importance of water. It is important to remember that these children live near the coast and near one of the most important wetlands of Central América: Térraba Sierpe National Wetland. For them, the wetland, shoreline and water are part of their daily lives.

And now, thanks to you, these children are learning about mangrove trees and why they are important for the welfare of their communities!

Thanks for your support, thanks for believing in our work! Please help us spreading the voice!

Links:

• Neotropica's site

“It is the law that everybody should know about,  because it is the law of the Wetland” (Jahaira Ramírez,  Artisanal Rice Association,  Térraba-Osa)

Jahaira Ramírez is an artisanal rice farmer in Osa. She made this statement at the recent validation process of the Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland  Management Plan.

Geting to know  people like Jahaira, who strive every day for better opportunities among Costa Rica´s wetlands, is the first phase in  the much required process to update the socioenvironmental diagnosis of this unique ecosystem.

The Socio Environmental Diagnosis is a tool that allows organizations to know the different realities, needs, practices and perceptions that exist about the resources in the communities surronding the Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland.  It is an insight, a photograph of the state of people and ecosystems in a particular moment.

Last December 2013, in order to update the information for this diagnosis, Fundación Neotrópica held four workshops in conjunction with community stakeholders like Jahaira Ramírez, men and women that live and work  in communities surrounding the wetland.   

The same methodology was used for all the workshops, which were undertaken in four communities: Palmar Norte and Sur, Sierpe, Ciudad Cortes and Coronado. These communities are participants in the consultation, validation and the generation of relevant information in order to update the diagnosis.

Participation of these communities was great!  Stakeholders recognized their main productive activities, ecosystem services, social organization and initiatives around their needs and those of the wetland.

Dialogue aroused among people who could prioritize productive activities that are happening in the wetland, as well as those activities that could be promoted through training and institutional support.

“Blue Communities” project depends on the information that is being constructed and validated with community leaders of the wetland.  Two key milestones of the project are community welfare and wetland conservation.

We deeply appreciate your support and hope you help us in our next journey:  to start mangrove nurseries on the Térraba Sierpe National Wetland.

Links:

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