Kapok 2012 - Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation

Vol. 8
Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation
2012-2013
KAPOK
FIFTEEN YEARS OF CONSERVATION, RESEARCH AND EDUCATION
2012 was Ceiba’s fifteenth year of protecting tropical habitat, raising environmental awareness, and working
with rural communities to save biodiversity. We’ve seen our programs grow, from establishment of the El
Pahuma Orchid Reserve (see page 6) to creation of the Lalo Loor Dry Forest Reserve (page 2) to a suite of
conservation, ecotourism and education projects on the central coast of Ecuador. This past summer we
inaugurated four new courses, ranging from environmental photojournalism to a service learning program in
which our students help local teachers learn to teach science to their students (page 7). Ceiba has become a
respected leader in the development of ecotourism plans for the central coast, where a new mangrove reserve
is in the works (page 2) and new campaigns promote sustainable tourism to this undiscovered region. We
have renewed our commitment to rural education, bringing hundreds of elementary and high school students
to Lalo Loor where they marvel at, and learn about, the coastal forest and its flora and fauna. Finally,
Ceiba has enthusiastically returned to its roots in research by promoting and leading new projects studying
bird and mammal diversity, orchid conservation (page 6), carbon
sequestration, and the effects of land use on water quality. We invite
you to read more in this year’s
issue of Kapok.
This Issue:
COME SEE ABOUT ME
coastal forest 2
mangrove preservation •
educational programs •
animal orphans find a home
community 3
students as water stewards •
sustainable shopping bags •
books for tots
research
4-5
Ecuador offers visitors an unparalleled opportunity to explore enormously varied ecosystems
and enjoy their stunning biodiversity: from the tropical rainforest (home to the juvenile
treefrog, Tradescantia flower, and Wire-tailed Manakin above) to the chilly peaks of the
Andes to the incredible display of wildlife above and below the waters of the Galapagos. For
over a decade Ceiba has led adventurous education programs for undergraduate students to
these astounding destinations. But we also arrange tourism packages for those who want a
little more out of their vacation time than just piña coladas and sunburns. On the mainland,
you can learn about tropical ecology, participate in conservation projects, or study the
behavior of monkeys, all while enjoying local cuisine, a swaying hammock, and a sunset
over the Pacific at the end of the day. Or join us for a cruise in the Galapagos where you
will swim with penguins and sea lions. If you have dreamed about visiting Ecuador, please
contact Ceiba about your interests and our upcoming trips.
orchid mapping • carbon
storage • camera traps •
bird surveys • water quality
orchids
6
cloud forest reserve
expansion • new orchid book
education
mountain lion meeting •
volunteers help out •
new summer courses
7
Camouflage takes many forms, used by prey to avoid being eaten and by predators to avoid being seen. Can you spot the frog and katydid here?
1
COASTAL FOREST CONSERVATION
Preserving the Last Mangroves in Jama County
Joe Meisel
Tour boat slips serenely through the mangroves
Home to schools of fish, sunbathing iguanas, and flocks of birds, mangroves (see Science
Speak, page 3) are exceptionally important ecosystems. They provide nesting locations,
feeding grounds, and protected nurseries. Their dense masses of roots stabilize soft
banks and help to clean sediment from muddy rivers. But throughout the tropics,
mangrove forests have been eliminated from enormous swaths of coastline. In Ecuador,
the main culprit was bulldozers making commercial shrimp ponds in the 1970’s. But in
Jama (pronounced “HA-ma”) county, home to Ceiba’s main projects, a small patch of
mangroves where the Jama River meets the ocean has survived. Now local landowners,
the municipal government, and tourism operators are banding together in a novel
partnership to develop the Jama mangroves as a new ecotourism destination. Visitors
will be able to tour the estuary quietly by boat, while local guides point out egrets,
herons, frigate birds, cormorants, pelicans and even blue-footed boobies. Spearheaded
by Ceiba project coordinator James Madden, these mangroves soon will provide the
county with another attraction for environmentally curious visitors, and will offer new
employment opportunities for boat captains, guides and more.
Ceiba Presentations Pack a Punch
James Madden
Ceiba’s environmental education efforts in the rural communities of Jama county
continued this year with an emphasis on short, informative presentations packing
succinct but powerful environmental messages. I have worked closely with Lalo Loor
Dry Forest Reserve staff and interns to deliver a series of short talks on pertinent
environmental topics such as howler monkey ecology, our zero garbage campaign (see
page 7), plastic vs. reusable bags, and water quality monitoring. The presentations
can easily be repeated many times in the same day, allowing us to divide participants
into smaller groups. This approach that allows us to engage audiences in many
communities: our messages have already reached over 600 people! These events have
helped Ceiba exchange information between our staff and the public in an effective
and meaningful way. We also have seen interns improve their Spanish as they create,
practice and deliver the presentations. Currently I am focusing on a presentation about
the conservation of the Jama River and its mangroves with the goal of raising awareness
and encouraging public engagement in the project.
White Ibis adults and juvenile in Jama mangroves
Lalo Loor Dry Forest: A Refuge for Visitors and Wayward Animals
Joe Meisel
The quiet, leafy interior of the reserve’s forest offers visitors a peaceful retreat from the heat, light and din of the
surrounding countryside. Tourists are surrounded by the shadows of swaying leaves, the singsong of a small stream, and
the quiet chorus of birds caroling above. The peace one finds is a reminder that nature is in our nature: humans have
a deep connection with the environment, and feel uplifted and enriched after an hour or two in the forest. The Lalo
Loor Reserve has, of late, come to be a peaceful retreat for animals of a different sort. A small assortment of forest
creatures, seized from the pet trade by wildlife officers, have been brought to the reserve for release. We hope that
these wayward animals, once reintroduced, can return to enjoying a safe and ecologically significant life in the reserve.
Years ago we accepted a juvenile howler monkey; more recently, several sloths have been brought for release, as well as
seized tortoises and other small animals. All have been returned successfully to the leafy, quiet forest.
Freed three-toed sloth climbs into its new home
“Pelos,” our first orphan monkey
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Local tortoise, saved from life in a tiny cage, is released by Gabriela
COMMUNITY EDUCATION & DEVELOPMENT
Community Researchers Monitor Local Rivers
James Madden & Catherine Woodward
In rural Ecuador, many people rely directly on rivers for their daily water
needs. But over the past few decades, deforestation and other land use
changes have caused declines in water quality, altering aquatic ecosystems
and posing a potential threat to human health. Ceiba initiated a campaign
to raise awareness and train local “citizen-scientists” to monitor rivers
that communities depend upon. Together with service-learning students
from the U.S. and Ecuador, we trained residents from Don Juan, Tasaste,
Camarones and Tabuga to become researchers of their rivers. Data on
temperature, dissolved oxygen, habitat quality, macro-invertebrates, and
E. coli are collected at sampling sites from each river’s headwaters to its
mouth. The teams have found that water upstream from towns is quite
pristine, while in more populated areas it contains unsafe levels of E.
coli. The data will allow for spatial and temporal comparisons among the
four rivers and help identify human actions, like maintaining forest cover
or keeping livestock out of streams, that help protect water quality.
Paper or Plastic Bag? Neither!
Local trainees measure stream water clarity through a turbidity tube
Joe Meisel
Environmental conservation and financial self-sufficiency go hand in hand. When people have reliable sources of income
they can afford to enjoy, and protect, regional forests
instead of plundering them for timber and other sellable
commodities.
Ceiba understands this connection,
and always has paired our conservation projects with
programs designed to improve the livelihoods of
local people. In the town of Tabuga, near our Lalo
Loor Dry Forest Reserve, we are working with a
newly-formed women’s group that has embarked on
a reusable shopping bag enterprise. Disposable
plastic bags have become a ubiquitous vice,
choking roadsides, rivers and the ocean, where
sea turtles perish from eating bags they mistake
for jellyfish. The women of Tabuga are forging a
new path, however, by sewing reusable shopping
bags and selling them cheaply to residents and
visitors. The bags are made of durable fabric, and
printed — by a handmade screen press — with
designs that focus on the region’s biological and
cultural history. Together with environmentallyminded residents, Ceiba is pushing for a new
municipal ordinance banning the use of plastic
shopping bags, mirroring legislation enacted in
Seattle, San Francisco and Portland. We hope that these combined efforts will result in better environmental conditions
and greater financial independence for the women of Tabuga.
New Books for Tots: Grant Helps Ceiba Stock the Bookshelves
Emily Lind
Ceiba’s commitment to education does not stop with our study abroad programs for
university students. We also support education in the communities where we work
by contributing learning opportunities and materials. The need is enormous: adult
illiteracy reaches 70% in some communities, and books are hard to come by. Early
in 2012 Ceiba was granted a donation of books from the Global Fund for Children for
the community libraries in Tabuga and Camarones. Eighty books written in English
and Spanish were sent down to Ecuador, and the pages have already been turned,
enjoyed by over a hundred kids. The local government has supported our efforts
by funding the salary for a part-time librarian. If you have any educational books
in Spanish or English that need a new home, please consider donating them to the
Ceiba Foundation so we can continue to expand the reading material available to
coastal community residents.
Students attend library after-school program
Science Speak:
mangrove (man′•grōv) n. = Salt-tolerant trees forming dense forests along tropical
coasts and tidal estuaries (see page 2); not restricted to a single species or family.
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CONSERVATION SCIENCE — KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Mapping Orchid Diversity Hotspots in Ecuador
Bird Nerds Geek Out, Adding New Species
Joe Meisel
Emily Lind
Conservation is about priorities: where should scarce resources be spent to gain maximum conservation
benefit? One quantitative approach is called hotspot mapping, where areas of high biodiversity threatened
by rampant deforestation are given top priority. Thanks to a grant from the Orchid Conservation Alliance,
Ceiba is conducting a hotspot analysis of orchid diversity in Ecuador (see images
at right). We began by mapping over 7,000 National Herbarium orchid collections,
then matched each site with altitude and climate factors. These data were
combined in geographic analysis software to estimate orchid diversity across the
entire country (only a small proportion has been surveyed). The resulting map
predicts where the greatest number of orchid species will be found (areas in red,
second map from the top). From this map we removed deforested regions, and
areas already protected by the national park system or private reserves. The
remaining sites (in blue, bottom map) represent gaps in protection of orchid
diversity hotspots; this type of study also is called Gap Analysis. Deforestation
and population growth rates then were combined to represent habitat threats, and
each hotspot was assigned an average threat level. The result is a set of locations,
Sobralia valida orchid at El Pahuma
ranked by diversity and risk, that should be given top priority to protect Ecuador’s
orchid diversity. Our work will be published next year to help orchid conservationists select new sites for
protection, bolster funding proposals and justify calls for expanding national protected areas.
How lucky can bird lovers get? Sunbitterns, Black-andwhite Owls, Blue-crowned Motmots, and Olivaceous
Piculets! Joe Meisel and I were awarded a grant from the
Crowder-Messersmith Fund to support an “avian diversity
and conservation education” project. Ecuador’s coast has
lost 98% of its forest to cattle ranching and agriculture
and little is known of the avifauna there. I was able
to return to Ecuador, now as a researcher rather than
a student, to spend a month working with Joe and four
students, mist-netting and banding birds at the Lalo Loor
Reserve and nearby Jama-Coaque Reserve. We captured
49 species of birds, adding the Blue-Chested Hummingbird
to the species list for Lalo Loor, and documenting eight
Blue-chested Hummingbird (Amazilia amabilis)
range extensions for Jama-Coaque. With the help of
local residents we created a laminated photo ID card, in
English and Spanish, of the most commonly encountered species in the area. The cards will
be distributed to naturalist guides, schools, environmental clubs, and ecotourism businesses
to help ignite awareness of the bird diversity in this region, on its way to becoming Ecuador’s
preeminent coastal nature destination.
Carbon Capture in Coastal Ecuador
Xavier Haro-Carrión & Trent Blare
Will paying landowners for the carbon in their forests convince them to protect it? Our study, conducted
around the Lalo Loor Dry Forest Reserve in 2012, aimed to answer this question by evaluating the trade-offs
that forest conservation presents for landowners. Xavier examined several different land use systems,
primary forest, secondary forest, pastures, and forestry plantations, to determine how much carbon each
system stores and absorbs. Trent visited landowners in the area surrounding the reserve and conducted
surveys about how they make a living, their views on forest conservation, and their willingness to participate
in a reforestation program. We are working together with another University of Florida graduate student,
Cade Turnbach, to determine the dynamics of carbon in this landscape, and to calculate the level of
financial compensation landowners would need to participate in a reforestation program.
“Here Kitty, Kitty!”: Camera Traps Catch Cats in Dry Forest
A stack of bills: highlights of the birds we captured (and released). Bay Wren (left),
ft) Orange-bellied
O
b lli d Euphonia,
E h i Orange-billed
O
bill d Sparrow, White-tipped Sicklebill
Catherine Woodward
Finding out what animals live in the forest is not always easy, but
the information is essential if the goal is to protect habitat for
particular species. As habitats get reduced and fragmented by
deforestation many animal species disappear, especially predators
that need large territories, like cats, or wildlife heavily hunted by
humans, like peccaries. Camera traps are a relatively inexpensive
way to find out what types of critters are out there, and where and
when they prefer to move around. Inspired by camera trap projects
at the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in Ecuador’s Amazon, we set up
four cameras on a shoestring budget to look for species indicative of
good quality forest in the Lalo Loor Reserve. Our efforts were soon
rewarded: within a few weeks the traps confirmed the presence of
ocelot, tayra and peccary, as well as smaller mammal species like
raccoons and agoutis. Finding these animals validates our work and
has revitalized efforts to conserve habitat in the region. If we obtain
additional funding for more cameras, we can answer more complex
questions such as how far these animals roam and whether they cross
agricultural fields from one habitat patch to another.
Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) spotted by a camera trap
4
Connecting Forest Conservation to Water Quality
Joe Meisel and Catherine Woodward
Orchid hotspots identified: orch
hid collection sites (red dots) and altitude (top
map) predict nationwide orchiid diversity (second map); deforested areas
(gray, third map) are eliminated
d, as are national parks and protected areas
(green, bottom map); the unpro
otected, high-diversity hotspots remain (blue).
Water is the most powerful connection between forests and people. Particularly in the dry
coastal regions, water literally is the stuff of life for local communities and farmers. Intact
forests are widely understood to yield streams with more water, and better water quality, than
deforested landscapes. Tree-covered mountains capture and retain more water, and the dense
vegetation and root systems prevent annual downpours from becoming catastrophic floods.
Ceiba’s ongoing study of water quality along the central coast of Ecuador thoroughly involves
local communities (see page 3). Student groups conduct regular monitoring missions to streams
near their schools; it’s a joy to watch kids plucking weird creatures from the stream beds,
carefully depositing them in petri dishes, and working through guidebooks to identify them.
These highly diverse aquatic animals can tell more about stream quality than chemical tests,
and in a far more engaging manner. Paired with the water analysis is a sophisticated mapping
study of the land uses surrounding each stream. We are collaborating with Duke University
graduate student Jeremiah Jolley to assess the amount of forest in each stream’s watershed
using satellite imagery and advanced software. We will present results to the local government
as part of our campaign to encourage municipal protection of area forests and rivers.
5
ORCHIDS & THEIR HABITAT
Reserve Expansion — Investing in Clouds
Joe Meisel
Plate-billed Mountain-Toucan, a cloud forest endemic
Ceiba is continuing fruitful negotiations to purchase a large cloud forest property
adjacent to the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve. The forest, over 300 hectares
(750 acres) in size, would nearly double the current reserve and extend its
protection to innumerable species of plants, frogs, birds (see left), orchids and
mammals. The goal is to join the property to El Pahuma and rehabilitate an old
path that winds through the forest, creating a loop trail for intrepid visitors to
hike. Part of this path is the famous Yumbo Trail, a pre-Colombian highway of
commerce once used to connect coastal fishing regions with agricultural centers
in the highlands. Worn deep into muddy soil by the passage of thousands of
footsteps, the trail in places is a trench over ten feet deep! Hiking along the
mountain crest, with clouds pouring over the ridgeline, giant ferns and moss
tangles pirouetting in the humid breeze, one feels transported back in time.
Although Ceiba normally does not engage in land purchase, we are convinced
that the chance to expand El Pahuma, and conserve these species-rich mountain
habitats, is an opportunity too important to pass up. Please support our efforts
to protect this incredible mountain forest by making a donation to our Cloud
Forest Conservation Fund.
Ceiba Cofounder Pens Orchid Book
Joe Meisel
While many fine books have been written about orchids, few can serve as
field guides and fewer still are aimed at non-specialists. Most are hefty
tomes loaded with technical terminology that can be offputting to the casual
reader. I and my coauthors, Ron Kaufmann of University of San Diego and
Franco Pupulin of Lankester Botanical Gardens, saw a need for an orchid
book written in plain English, specifically for newcomers to the field; hence
our new volume, An Introduction to the Orchids of Tropical America. The
book introduces readers to over 120 of the most widespread and abundant
groups of orchids; rather than illustrating every species (there are over
4,000 in Ecuador alone!) we stick to recognizable groups, called genera.
Each group is illustrated by gorgeous photographs, and described in plain,
concise language. I include stories about the ecology, history or human
uses of each group, to deepen readers’ understanding of the complex and
fascinating world of orchids. For example, did you know that vanilla comes
from orchids? The black specks in vanilla ice cream are actually tiny seeds
from the orchid’s capsule, known casually as a vanilla “bean.” The book,
published by Cornell University Press, will be released in the end of 2013.
Visit www.orchidsoftropicalamerica.com for more information, excerpts,
and to pre-order your copy.
Cattleya gaskelliana, one of over 450 gorgeous photographs
Alumni Make Their Mark
Carl Hutter and Mark Ladd (semester 2009) both are pursuing graduate degrees: Carl studies
Ecuadorian glass frogs (left) at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, while Mark investigates
Caribbean coral reef regeneration for his doctorate at Florida International University.
Matt Axler (summer 2010) returned to Ecuador as a volunteer in 2011, and will revisit the country yet
again as a University of Wisconsin graduate student with a project to create interactive web-based maps
of coastal biodiversity and ecotourism attractions.
Jennifer Wagner (semester 2011) was awarded the University of Wisconsin Dean’s Prize, given out
annually to the top four undergraduate students, and enrolled in UW’s School of Medicine this year.
Ceiba congratulates all our students for their achievements!
6
COURSES, INTERNSHIPS & SERVICE LEARNING
Meeting with a Mountain Lion
Danae Pressler
My story begins some 50 feet off the ground, in the wide
branches of a Ceiba tree in the Amazon rainforest. I had
spent the morning with friends cradled in the tree’s strong
arms, watching parrots fly overhead and woolly monkeys
shake the tree tops. While hiking back solo, I rounded a
bend and my world came to a screeching halt. I accidentally
startled a sleeping puma. To be fair, she startled me right
back. My mind flooded with horror stories as I tried to
think what my next move should be. As I slowly reversed
my steps back around the bend she darted off in some
unknown direction, and I began the most terrifying trek
of my life back to camp. More than once I was convinced
she was stalking me. But now I am certain that it was only
paranoia that followed, not a mountain lion. I have since
adopted this fearsome beauty as my personal spirit animal
and I am incredibly grateful for the experience.
The author with a Blue-black Grosbeak, keeping clear of its powerful (and painful) beak
Ceiba’s semester abroad program gave me memories I will never forget: holding hummingbirds in my hand, swimming
with sea lions and sharks, spending hours in hammocks with best friends, waking up to howler monkeys hooting, surfing
on my graduation day, living in an ice-cream shop in the Galapagos Islands. It also gave me useful knowledge and endless
inspiration to protect our natural environments. I absorbed more information in those five short months than I ever had
sitting in a cold classroom in Minnesota. The courses give unparalleled insight into some of the toughest conservation
challenges facing the world today and urge students to explore solutions. I learned to look at a problem from a hundred
different perspectives, and I am a better person for it.
Volunteers on the Coast -- Welcome with Open Arms
Stacy Armbruster
I keep learning that the secret of being happy is staying connected to people and nature. What I experienced as a
volunteer with Ceiba was a sense of happiness and fulfillment, and above all, a sense of community. I divided my time
between the Lalo Loor Reserve and the nearby village of Tabuga, where I helped paint a tree mural and categorize
donated books in the community center library. At the reserve, my favorite activity was helping with weekly group work,
known as “mingas.” This included pruning in the botanical garden, maintaining trails, and working on Cero Basura,
the Zero Trash program. At its heart is a unique approach to re-using plastic bottles: they are stuffed with discarded
candy wrappers to create plastic construction “bricks.” My main project was developing a sand filtration system for
the reserve’s water supply. I collaborated with the summer program “Land Use, Water Quality and Human Health” that
involves students in community-based water quality monitoring. The students participated in constructing the filtration
system, learning about its operation and installation, as well as the benefits of sand filtration to produce safe drinking
water. My time spent in Ecuador was nothing less than amazing, and inspiring. So, if you have an adventurous spirit,
are seeking an experience of a lifetime, and would like to be a part of making a difference, the Ceiba Foundation will
welcome you with open arms. Undoubtedly, you will find you get back so much more than you give.
Wisconsin Students Engage Children in Science
Catherine Woodward
Five UW Madison students led by Dolly Ledin came to Tabuga for four
weeks of service-learning to share their science outreach experience with
primary school teachers and kids. Their mission was to model effective
science teaching practices for the teachers, by engaging kids in hands-on,
inquiry-based science activities in and out of the classroom. Teachers
participated in workshops at the Lalo Loor Reserve to hone their science
teaching skills and learn how to use outdoor environments and inquiry
to stimulate science learning. “I learned many new ideas that I will be
able to put into practice with the kids,” one teacher said. This course
was one of four new Ceiba summer programs, including Environmental
Photojournalism, Conservation Internships, and Land Use, Water Quality
and Human Health.
7
Wisconsin students engage Tabuga school children, making a terrarium
A Barklift: Ceiba Upgrades its Website
Ceiba’s website is undergoing a much-needed upgrade.
We’re
moving to a modern layout and taking advantage of new, interactive
technologies. There will be a blog for real-time updates about
activities in Ecuador, a mirror of our Facebook postings, and links to
news articles on conservation topics. We’ll be taking better advantage
of the incredible photographs we’ve accumulated after years in
Ecuador, featured in rolling slide shows and a large image gallery. The
new site will launch at the start of next year. We invite you to join us
online at www.ceiba.org
Ceiba Folks
Gabriela Castillo took over management
of the Lalo Loor Dry Forest Reserve last
year and has worked hard to expand
school education programs and strengthen
the reserve’s commitment to community
development projects. We are delighted
to have the benefit of her energy, humanity
and hard work. Máximo Aguinda has been
part of the Lalo Loor team since 2004, first as reforestation coordinator and now as El
Capitán for our volunteers. His warm and playful personality is an immediate hit with
students, volunteers and visitors; here he clowns about in his best rapper imitation.
Ceiba
Foundation
for
Tropical
Conservation
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Catherine Woodward
WHO GIVES A HOOT? — WE DO!
President
Saving tropical plants and animals is important to us. So
is protecting the habitats where they live. These places
deliver invaluable services to local people, like clean
water, pollinators, and a respite from scorching summer
heat. They also provide clean air to the planet, and capture
carbon that mitigates climate change. And of course, they
are refuges for tropical biodiversity that deserves a place on
Earth. Please support our work by volunteering your time
and energy, or by making a donation.
Joe Meisel
Vice-President
Andrea Crosby
Lisa Naughton
Monica de Navarro
Stephen Webster
Susan Webster
Ceiba Foundation for
Tropical Conservation
Donate:
Your gift goes a
long way in Ecuador, and
makes all our programs
possible. Public contributions
finance
everything
from
species surveys to salaries
to mapping expeditions and
education programs ... even
feeding orphaned animals!
Make your tax-deductible gift
today by mail or online at
www.ceiba.org/donate.htm
1202 Williamson St., Lower Level
Madison, WI 53703
608.230.5550 (t)
608.227.0141 (f)
www.ceiba.org
mail@ceiba.org
www.facebook.com/CeibaFoundation
Volunteer: Come see Ceiba trees,
orchids, monkeys and toucans for yourself!
Be a part of it all by working with local
schools, studying howler monkeys and
birds, or helping with reforestation and
trail building. For more information visit
www.ceiba.org/volunteer.htm
Kapok Editorial Staff
Connect:
Ceiba is an IRS registered
non profit (EIN 31-1565636)
Emily Lind
Joe Meisel
Catherine Woodward
Check out exciting stories
from the field, program updates, events,
and the latest pictures and videos at
www.facebook.com/CeibaFoundation
8
Artwork by Lauren Hennelly (semester 2012)