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Research & Education
 May 19, 2013

Mission Statement: Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment in Puerto Rico

Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation was incorporated in 1998 as a non-profit in Puerto Rico to support the project’s research and education activities. The Earthwatch Institute has been a key collaborator in assisting in the scientific mission since 2000. Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation has a contract with Tropic Ventures (the managing entity) to conduct scientific studies and educational research work on the entirety of the land for the next 50 years.

Mission

1) To carry out research into the raising and processing of valuable hardwoods as part of a project looking at a total systems approach to rainforest management emphasizing sound ecological practice and economic sustainability.

2) To maintain as a natural rainforest reserve, without human disturbance, approximately 800 hectares of secondary growth forest land at Tropic Ventures’ Las Casas de la Selva project site. The remaining 323 hectares being used to experiment with species enrichment and restoration of damaged areas as well as the raising of hardwoods.

3) To research and maintain a collection of ethnobotanically important rainforest plants, including fruits, ornamental plants, medicinal plants, culinary herbs and plants used for construction and handcrafts. Use of these plants will be researched as economic alternatives to logging.

4) To promote and carry out research and education in ecologically sound use of all forest resources including the utilization of “waste woods” ordinarily deemed not valuable, promoting rainforest preservation and sustainable forestry practice.

5) To hold conferences and workshops on rain forest ecology, including vectors of ecotourism, value added work on timber, economic alternatives and viability of rainforest communities, and sustainable use of rainforest resources.


TVREF relies solely on the generosity of individuals who value the work that we do. Forest research is an invisible yet crucial component of the future of sustainable forestry in Puerto Rico. Further outreach and education need your support, your donation is critical. Thank you so much, it means a lot.

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Uncategorized
 May 19, 2013

Earthwatch

Since 2000, the team at Las Casas de la Selva has been honored to work with volunteers from all over the world thanks to the sponsorship of The Earthwatch Institute. We greatly appreciate the decision that volunteers make to come here and help us accomplish our goals towards sustainable management of this forest. With the data we have been gathering we are able to evaluate the needs and direction of further studies, and implement relevant strategies and land and timber management plans.

Puerto Rico is currently approximately 57% forested, mostly by young secondary forest. The period of economic and cultural change from the 1950s to 1990 in Puerto Rico is seen as proportionally resulting in the largest event of forest recovery anywhere in the world.  It is crucial that we understand the ecology of this type of forest, if we are to utilize its timber and other forest products in economically and ecologically viable ways. This project increasingly becomes a living demonstration in new models for approaches to forest management in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

With the challenge of our terrain, climate, and steep (often muddy) slopes, it has been a joy to see so many volunteers overcome personal difficulties, and really open themselves to the joy of the outdoor life. Many volunteers have changed the course of their studies or careers after experiencing life and work with us in this stunning, edifying landscape.We have enjoyed the company of all who have trekked through the forest with us, identifying, collecting, and measuring, and equally enjoyed homestead social interactions at the end of a long day. Thank you for involving yourselves in learning about our biosphere with us.

On an Earthwatch Expedition in the Puerto Rico Rainforest: Earthwatch volunteers will be trained in a variety of tasks, which may include measuring trees, counting and identifying lizards or frogs, helping to tag and identify vine species, and helping to set up new experimental plots for planting different tree and shrub species. You will be in beautiful, tropical rainforest areas, sometimes climbing up steep hillsides, and sometimes following fast flowing rivers. You may also have the chance to join a night expedition into the forest to help count coqui frogs. During your recreational time you will be able to enjoy hikes, take dips in nearby rivers, take part in some forest related craft activities, use the project library to learn more about the ecology of the area, or just relax and enjoy an area of rainforest land that very few other people have had a chance to visit. There will also be an opportunity to take a salsa dancing class and to experience the local culture and cuisine.

Principal Investigators for Earthwatch Expeditions at Las Casas de la Selva since 2000: Dr. Mark Nelson, Sally Silverstone, Dr. Patricia A. Burrowes, Dr. Rafael L. Joglar,  Thrity J. Vakil, Molly Robertson, Norman Greenhawk, Patricia Boyko, Jimena Forero, & Marta Edgar.

Previous and current advisors and mentors: John P. Allen (Global Ecotechnics), William F. Dempster (Global Ecotechnics), Frank H. Wadsworth, Peter L. Weaver (IITF), Jess Zimmerman (Luquillo LTER, UPR), Pedro Acevedo-Rodriguez, (Smithsonian), D. Jean Lodge, (US Forest Service), Joe M. Wunderle (IITF), Jill Thompson, (El Verde Field Station).

Forest products Forestry
 May 6, 2013

May 6th 2013, meeting at Cayey University.

The Forest Products Assessment group formally became C.A.D.A. (Consejo Asesor para el Desarrolo Agro-forestal de Puerto Rico).

Back row: Andrés Rua (TVREF), Enrique Santiago Irrizary (DRNA), Augusto Carvajal (UPR Cayey), Mark Schofield (former editor of Fine Woodworking Magazine), Gerardo Hernandez (Management Official for Toro Negro State Forest), Franklin Roman (UPR Agriculture Extension Officer and Agronomist), 3t Vakil (TVREF)
Front: Jimena Forero Montanez (UPR Phd student), Christina Cabrera (Special Assistant to the Secretary, DRNA), Rosamaria Quiles (DRNA)

Education News
 April 13, 2013

Patillas Kids Day

Kids Day in Patillas!! Thank you to everyone in Patillas who organized, led projects, made costumes, worked with kids rehearsing, set up tents, cleaned, and helped make Kids Day a wonderful fundraiser for Escuela Elemental de Marin Bajo. To Ruty Reyes and Tito Lebron, and the best team ever, muchas gracias! Love from The Bosquer@s, Las Casas de la Selva!

Education Herpetology News Volunteers
 March 22, 2013

Norman on sabbatical

In 2012 Norman Greenhawk was honored by Earthwatch with a Neville Schulman Award. The award is given for the training of emerging environmental leaders. For the award, Norman submitted a proposal: “Herpetological Conservation in the Neo-Tropics: An Interdisciplinary Approach”, and he is currently two and a half months into his seven month sabbatical.

June 2013: Above: Norman Greenhawk with Nahir Tejada in the PARC (Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project) quarantine room, located at Summit Zoological and Botanical Park in Panama. The frogs are being stored here in temporary housing as the project finalizes it’s relocation to the new facility in the nearby community of Gamboa. Every day, over 150 plastic tanks of frogs have to be cleaned and the frogs have to be provided with fresh water and food. Norman is holding an Atelopus limosus and Nahir holds an Atelopus glyphus. Collectively, members of the genus Atelopus are known as “Harlequin frogs”, and are highly susceptible to the Chytrid fungus that is decimating frog populations worldwide. The goal of PARC is to preserve a genetically diverse breeding population in captivity in the event that these species go extinct in the wild, as the Panamanian Golden Frog (Atelopus zeteki) is currently.

He has spent a month at La MICA Biological Field Station in El Cope, Panama. He has worked with Dr. Julie Ray, a specialist of Panamanian snakes and has also interviewed citizens of the rural barrio of Barrigon about their attitudes and beliefs about snakes. His time in Panama will end with a stint at the Panamanian Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project (PARC), which partners with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. PARC is a captive breeding program dedicated to preserving genetically diverse populations of Atelopus frogs, a genus of frogs that are highly susceptible to the Chytrid fungus, a disease currently wiping out populations of amphibians all over the world. While working at PARC, he is continuing his interviews of local and indigenous peoples, focusing on beliefs about reptiles and amphibians in general, as well as perceptions about conservation organizations.

Norman also has had an opportunity to conduct a very sobering interview that helps showcase why he is so focused on community outreach and partnership. On May 30th, Jairo Mora Sandoval, a Costa Rican sea turtle conservationist, was murdered by poachers who were angered at his efforts to attract the attention of police to a huge illegal turtle harvest. By chance, a former Las Casas volunteer was working with Jairo’s group when the murder occurred. He met with Norman and shared his story of what happened; Jairo was a young man, 26 years old. The night before his murder, he spoke of wanting to propose to his girlfriend. He was well liked by the community, and even by many of the local poachers. Such examples of violence are extreme, but not unheard of. Norman hopes that his continued outreach to communities around each of the conservation projects he is working at will help in some small way to prevent future tragedies such as this- on July 3rd, Norman flies to Belize to work with a crocodile sanctuary that was burned to the ground two years ago by Maya Indians who erroneously thought that two village children had been eaten by the crocodiles. We wish the best for Norman on his intrepid explorations!

Atelopus limosus male

Image by Brian Gratwicke [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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