Jorge Valenzuela, with the National Forest Corporation of Chile, and I have been checking our cameras in the Chilean Andes in recent weeks as part of his wildlife monitoring program. We have so far checked eight camera locations. We recorded Andean Cat, Pampas Cat, puma, culpeo (fox), Hog-nosed Skunk, Grison, Mountain Viscacha and Mountain Caracara Read more
Walking through the jungle in the dark of the night, my visual stimuli were limited to the area illuminted by the small, bright beam of light from my flashlight. On nights like these, I am out scanning for nocturnal biodiversity. Specifically, as the herpetologist for the Biodiversity Assessment Team, a joint conservation research team through Read more
By Nikki Roach, GWC associate conservation scientists (re-purposed from Nikki’s blog) The past two months I spent in the field finalizing research sites and setting transects for my Ph.D. work in Colombia’s Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Although we traverse across properties and elevations every few days, below is what an “average” day looks like. Read more
Over the past month members of the GWC team have been working with local people on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua to create a community-driven, protected area management plan for Indio Maíz Biological Reserve. The reserve forms part of one of the five biggest forests remaining in Central America and is home to Baird’s Tapir, Read more
The relationships between animals, plants, their habitat, humans and the planet as a whole are complex and we are only starting to understand these connections. What is clear, however, is that wildlife play a key role in maintaining the health of their forest habitats, even in helping to restore a forest after natural processes threaten Read more
Five years ago, two other biologists and I started dreaming about developing a conservation and research program to protect Silvery-brown Tamarin populations living in degraded habitats in Colombia. In order to make this idea reality, we wrote a strategic plan and a logical framework with our overall goal, project purpose, expected outcomes and activities to Read more
Two hours up the fast-flowing Indian river, our boats were forced to stop in the driving rain by a fallen tree blocking the channel. Debris from Hurricane Otto back in November 2016 was rapidly piling up behind it and I thought our journey into Nicaragua’s Indio Maíz Biological Reserve was over. Quickly though, my traveling Read more
By Nikki Roach, GWC associate conservation scientists (re-purposed from Nikki’s blog) It started as most field expeditions start: I forgot to bring something important—my camera lens. We were hiking to 3,500+ meters, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so why prioritize my camera? After a frustrating day preparing for the expedition and trying to navigate the language barriers, Read more
Growing up in Colombia, I spent my holidays going to the Amazon, snorkeling in the Pacific, hiking the Andes and fishing in the Orinoquia. At the time, these vacations seemed quite ordinary. I would see colorful butterflies flying along the banks of small tributaries of the Amazon, hear all sort of noises made by frogs Read more
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Otto, a Category 2 hurricane that barreled through southeast Nicaragua’s Indio Maíz Biological Reserve, much of the landscape seemed almost desolate at first glance. I saw Howler Monkeys being picked apart by vultures and the lifeless, desiccated bodies of Three-toed Sloths still clutching to the branches of leafless trees. Read more