Posts Tagged ‘rainforest’

My first visit to Mamoni Arriba

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

It is easy to quickly recognize the beauty of the Mamoni landscape. Multiple hill tops spread across the landscape were visible from the road to Mamoni Arriba. The surprise I felt laid in the fact that these hills and mountains were fully covered with jungle and not cattle pastures. These days, mountain tops covered with jungle are rare sights in the Panamanian country side, but not in Mamoni. I felt proud and content to be part of this journey into the Mamoni Valley.

I parted from Panamá city early in the morning towards the North East into Mamoni Arriba. My objective was to meet the local people and understand the landscape so that I could plan a longer visit. Luckily for me, I was accompanied by Roland who was born in Mamoni and has been working for Earth Train for many years. I was also accompanied by Carlos Andrés who is a Panamanian lawyer that works for Earth Train and has spent valuable time working in the valley. I had been warned about the access road to Mamoni Arriba because during the rainy season it becomes difficult to ride. However, Rolando’s driving skills did the trick and got us to Mamoni Arriba in no time.

The landscape going down the road and into the Mamoni valley was truly amazing. The valley per say was mostly covered by pasture land. In the background I could see the mountains that surround the valley and that are shared with the Chagres National Park and the Comarca of Kuna Yala. The forest that lies on these mountains is what we in ecoReserve are working to protect. I was imagining myself crossing the mountains to Kuna Yala when Rolando decided to stop at “el filo”. El “filo” is the spot with the highest altitude on the road to Mamoni Arriba. Rolando showed me the Caribbean towards the North. I knew it was the Caribbean because I could clearly see the islands that are part of Kuna Yala. I’ve never visited these islands but now I can say that I’ve seen them from a distance.

Once we made it to Mamoni Arriba we met with Arsenio. Arsenio is a very funny man and with a lot of energy. I wanted him to take me to the forest, to a very “specific spot”! Since I had never been in the valley the only way I could explain to him where I wanted to go was by showing him an aerial photography of Mamoni Arriba. In somewhat of a silly manner he told me that, “he couldn’t understand the image because the highest altitude he had ever seen his house from was 14 meters”. I immediately thought to myself how I had felt the same way the first time I looked for my house on Google earth. I started laughing.

We spend quite sometime figuring out a way to reach the “specific spot” that I wanted to visit. We figured out our starting point for my next visit. The starting point will be where the Espavé stream connects with the Mamoní River. I met with many more people and got a very good feeling for the site.

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Field Work Begins in Panama Rainforest!

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

We are delighted to welcome aboard Mariana Valencia, who will be serving as the Project Launch Coordinator for the ecoReserve-Earth Train project in Panama. Mariana is coming on initially in a 3-month contract position to help set up the logistics for the restoration/conservation project in the Mamoni Valley.

Mariana will be working part-time in Panama City and part-time on the reserve. She will be working on creating access to the reserve, setting up the infrastructure for workers and the nursery, and fleshing out the Program Implementation & Monitoring Plan that was drafted by ecoReserve volunteers this past year (a big thank you to our volunteers: Joan Dudney, Dena Vallano and Yiwei Wang). She will also recruit advisors and identify prospective project staff.

Mariana recently completed a M.S. in Science – Ecology and Evolution Program from the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC). As a native of the Republic of Panama, she is passionate about forest conservation in Latin America. Her MS thesis led her to work on the restoration of lowland tropical rain forest in Mexico where she worked closely with farmers in restoration projects within rural areas in the Los Tuxtla Biosphere Reserve, Veracruz. She also has interests in working in temperate regions; therefore she developed her MS thesis manuscript on the restoration ecology of prairie systems in Chicago, IL. She is currently preparing her thesis for publication. Mariana received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Emphasis in Plant Science at the University of Panama (UP). She worked for three years at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute along with scientists of many nationalities in five different sites throughout Panama. Through research and academic courses, she has spent valuable time working in Panama, Mexico, and the USA. These experiences have prepared her to manage and coordinate multiple tasks as well as collaborate with large international research groups. Concerned with the contradictions between economic development and conservation, Mariana is especially interested in working with small landholders on issues of sustainable land use and connecting the economic and ecological aspects of restoration efforts in protected areas.

We are excited to have such a perfectly qualified person as Mariana in this key project launch position. Please welcome Mariana!

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ecoReserve Alpha Site is Launched! Beta Up Next!

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

We’re pleased to announce that we now have an alpha version of the ecoReserve website! This is a private site that we’re testing internally but here’s a screenshot of what the *real* Panamanian rainforest looks like!

On the alpha site, you can see all of the available conservation and restoration reserve parcels in the Panamanian rainforest that you’ll help to protect. You can click on the interactive map to adopt your own nature reserve, and your personalized ecoReserve page will display your profile, a portfolio of parcels that you’ve adopted, multimedia content that you’ve uploaded, and messages from your friends. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be refining the alpha site and adding features.

We are now in the final push to launch the public Beta version of the website in the next few weeks.

We will be refining the alpha site and adding several exciting social networking features that will enable micro-conservation to spread rapidly among friends.

We are almost there but we need to raise an additional $20,000 in the next few weeks to launch the site. If just 200 friends like you donate $100 today, we’ll make our goal within 24 hours. Would you please be one of those 200 friends?

If you donate any amount before our Beta launch, you will become one of our Founding Donors honored on the Wall of Fame, and you’ll secure a respected place in ecoReserve’s startup history.

Thank you for your good wishes and support this year. We couldn’t do it without you!

If you’re on Facebook, click here to donate throughCauses.

If you’re not on Facebook, click here to donate through Givezooks.

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Chocó-Darien Hotspot

Friday, August 6th, 2010

ecoReserve’s first reserve located in the Mamoni Valley is part of the Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena Hotspot and includes a small portion of the Chocó/Darién wet region, one of the two major regions in the hotspot.

ecoReserve’s Mamoni Valley reserve falls in two of the 34 internationally recognized biodiversity hotspots: 1) the Mesoamerica Biodiversity Hotspot and 2) the Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena Hotspot. Although both start in Panama, the Mesoamerica Biodiversity Hotspot runs northward, but the Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena Hotspot runs southward. Because we have already discussed the Mesoamerica Biodiversity Hotspot, this post will focus on the Tumbes-Choco-Magdalena Hotspot. The Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena Hotspot starts in the southeastern portion of Mesoamerica and extends to the northwestern corner of South America with a reach of 1600 kilometers, which is close to 1000 miles. The hotspot is divided into two main regions, the northernmost Chocó/Darién wet and moist forests located in the Darién Province in Panama and the Chocó region in western Colombia to the southernmost Tumbesian dry forests of Ecuador and the northwestern part of Peru.

The Darién Province is one of the most diverse, remote regions in Central America and is protected by dense pristine forests and jungle. At over 3 million acres, it is the largest province in Panama, the most sparsely populated, and the least well known. It is a region of dense tropical rainforest and is among the most complete ecosystems of all tropical America. The Darién is mostly uninhabited mountains, jungle, and swamplands, and it has one of the richest ecosystems of the American tropics. It is also home to many endangered species, such as the jaguar, the giant anteater, the harpy eagle, and the tapir.

Until 20 years ago, there were no roads in the Darién, and travel through the region was very difficult. Before the roads were built, the indigenous people of the area, the Embera, Wounaan, and Kuna, relied mainly on water transportation because they live in settlements scattered along the river valley . Today the Pan-American Highway cuts through the middle of Darien. This gravel highway extends down as far as the town of Yaviza, which is the beginning of the famed Darien Gap. This 100 km gap, which is the only uncompleted piece of the the Pan-American Highway, is impossible for travelers to pass and survive. The highway poses another danger as well. Because the highway connects overland commerce between North and South America, it has opened up the region to cattle ranchers, loggers, and landless peasants. As a result, both the natural forest and the indigenous people of the Darién are being threatened.

The biggest objection to completion of the highway is its effect on the region’s ecological balance and the danger it poses to the survival and habitat of the indigenous people living in the region. It would also extend the already dramatic deforestation of the area.

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ecoReserve Does First Trade Show at SF Green Festival!

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

We just finished up a great weekend with ecoReserve doing its first trade show at the SF Green Festival.

At Green Festival™, a joint project of Global Exchange and Green America, attendees were  celebrating what’s working in our communities—for people, business and the environment.

Think of Green Festival™ as a walk through a sustainable community. It begins with finding solutions to help make our lives healthier—socially, economically and environmentally. Individuals along with business and community leaders come together to discuss critical issues that impact us at home and abroad. Organizations and businesses showcase programs and products that restore the planet and all that inhabit it. Neighbor-to-neighbor connections are formed, and skills are shared to empower people to create positive change in the world.

We were pleased to have a booth at the nation’s premier sustainability event, where we were a part of  the best in green. This included more than 125 renowned authors, leaders and educators; great how-to workshops; cutting-edge films; fun activities for kids; organic beer and wine; delicious vegetarian cuisine and diverse live music along with a unique marketplace of more than 350 eco-friendly businesses—everything from all-natural body care products and organic cotton clothing to Fair Trade gifts and beautiful kitchen tiles made from renewable resources.

It was a busy two days with a lot of excitement about the Festival and about us. It was the first time we publicly talked about ecoReserve. We showcased our product that will help to restore the planet and all that inhabit it in the form of nature reserves. We formed neighbor-to-neighbor connections and shared our message about micro-conservation and how it empowers people to create positive change in the world.

We had a constant stream of people visiting us in our booth. We shared the concept of micro-conservation and how people could make a difference by adopting their own nature reserve for as little as $25. We were met with a lot of positive responses.

Our booth really stood out as unique – it was designed it to look like a living-room size nature reserve, which drew a lot of attention. Our jungle at the Green Festival.

Main draws to our booth: 1) the jungle look in general, 2) the creative moss covered computer monitors. We had a slide show of scenes from the reserve, and last but certainly not least, 3) a constant supply of cookies.

There were people who said they loved the concept of micro-conservation.

We got a lot of people who said they were about to have a birthday and would like to ask their friends to buy them ER parcels. Other people said they had multiple nieces/nephews who would like a reserve as a present. We are building this functionality in our 1st release of the product. Our CTO Jim Lynch will announce it later this week.

All in all, it was a wonderful experience for ecoReserve and if the response received at the Green Festival is any indicator of things to come in the future we are excited as we believe that micro-conservation is going to be an exciting new concept in land conservation that people will view as exciting and game-changing.

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Jaguar Swims the Panama Canal Then Takes Own Picture

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Check out the interesting article about a Jaguar in Panama.  Is it the same jaguar?  Guess!

http://ecolocalizer.com/2009/05/11/jaguar-swims-panama-canal-then-takes-own-picture/

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Micro-Conservation Unveiled at the San Francisco Green Festival April 10-11, 2010

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

ecoReserve And Micro-Conservation Unveiled

ecoReserve is excited to be a part of the San Francisco Green Festival this year and to be unveiling micro-conservation for the first time in a public forum to attendees of the Green Festival. Please join us and be on the leading edge to learn about a new concept called micro-conservation and what you can do as an individual to make a difference in this world to protect ecologically significant land and create sustainable livelihoods for those people in living on the land.

Become a micro-conservationist! You can create your own living-room size nature reserve on endangered land for just $25. ecoReserve is a new non-profit that is launching a game-changing model for conservation this spring called grassroots micro-conservation. Your nature reserve will protect rainforests and animal habitats, and help local communities live sustainably. Here’s a preview of what you will be able to do as a micro-conservationist.

You can select a parcel on our interactive map that uses the Google Maps API and high resolution aerial imagery to display the available reserves. You will then receive your own private reserve page with annually updated images of their reserve so you can track changes over time. You may visit your reserve whenever you wish. Our scientists will provide ongoing information about the reserve’s restoration, its plants and animals, and its ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration.

You can learn about conservation as our site will have educational features such as Posts from the Field with videos, photos, and blogs from the scientists, staff, and local community members. You will have your own personal profile where you can share facts about yourself and upload photos and videos. As a members you can save land as individuals or in a group (such as family, friends, colleges, companies). You can join clubs to connect with people who share similar interests (e.g. sustainable livelihoods club). Our Facebook app and iPhone app will enable individuals to share their reserve easily with their social networks.

You can make a difference for generations to come by engaging ecoReserve’s game-changing conservation model.

Our mission is to provide a platform that will allow you as an individual to restore and protect endangered land, and support sustainable livelihoods and spawn a new grassroots movement for individual land conservation by providing an engaging online platform for you to create your own private nature reserves around the world and to share that excitement with your friends and have that excitement spread. We are unveiling our concept at the San Francisco Green Festival.

The San Francisco Green Festival™, a joint project of Global Exchange and Green America. In 2008, the San Francisco Green Festival™ boasted 3 days filled with the best in green, and continues to expand in size and scope! With more than 150 renowned speakers and 400 green businesses, this event was an amazing success! We expect this years event to be an amazing success again.

Come by Booth 1051 at the Green Festival (April 10-11, 2010) and check it out! Share it with your friends, start the movement, make a difference.

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