Proyecto Campanario is a conservation initiative begun by a small group of teachers who began their lives in Latin America over 20 years ago with the Peace Corps.
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Proyecto Campanario is a conservation initiative begun by a small group of teachers who began their lives in Latin America over 20 years ago with the Peace Corps.
Proyecto Campanario is a conservation initiative begun by a small group of teachers who began their lives in Latin America over 20 years ago with the Peace Corps.
Proyecto Campanario is a conservation initiative begun by a small group of teachers who began their lives in Latin America over 20 years ago with the Peace Corps.
Proyecto Campanario is a conservation initiative begun by a small group of teachers who began their lives in Latin America over 20 years ago with the Peace Corps. The group, as we were, along with some Costa Rican friends, purchased a spectacular tract of rainforest just north of Corcovado National Park in the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica, and established the Campanario Biological Reserve in order to contribute to global conservation in a personal way.
We have dedicated our efforts to:
- Conserve biodiversity.
- Support tropical research.
- Promote environmental education.
Since Project Campanario’s creation in 1990, with the Campanario Biological Reserve as the central focus, eco-tourist, students and researchers have visited our lodge and network of trails. Join us on our treks through majestic forests which drip with bromeliads and vines, and see shy creatures creep through the diverse forest understory. Conduct your own personal study of one of the hundreds of species of flora and fauna which the reserve supports.
Participate in a short tropical ecology course in this remote rainforest, and come with us on trips through the largest mangrove forest in Central America. Join us on scuba or snorkeling trips to the clear waters off Isla del Caño, and visit famed Corcovado National Park.
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Different programs and activities have emerged to put the mission into action. Project Campanario is engaged in 10 different programs:
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conservation of the Campanario Biological Reserve to maintain the eco-systems with a minimum of human impact
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international tropical ecology courses and camps offered to university and high school student groups as the “intense field trip” to give first-hand experience in field studies in the tropical rainforest
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national environmental education programs for Costa Rican students to study their tropical forests through in-country exchange programs and sponsorship by local companies.
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eco-tourism adventures for visitors looking for a vacation with a purpose,
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volunteer program offering a minimum 3-week stay exchanging part of their room and board for work in the reserve.
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research and species inventories carried out by national and international investigators, and by Campanario volunteers
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local community involvement and service projects to support the nearby schools, to offer short courses to the local community, and to work with the park officials.
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regional level involvement in tourism bureaus, development associations, and other conservation NGO’s to continue conservation efforts of the Osa Peninsula
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national level involvement through the Costa Rican Network of Private Natural Reserves which supports and defends private conservation in Costa Rica and throughout the Central American Isthmus.
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expansion of the Campanario Biological Reserve through acquiring nearby tracts of land under pressures of “development”
You can become part of this special effort to protect the biodiversity of this corner of the world.
ASOCIACION PROYECTO CAMPANARIO
A non-profit sister organization, the Asociación Proyecto Campanario (APC), was established in 1991 to principally involve the local, national, and international communities in conservation efforts in the northern Osa Peninsula. Through the APC, Proyecto Campanario cooperates with schools, local government, and environmental and tourism groups in the region through outreach and environmental education programs. The APC is currently working in three areas:
Environmental Education Programs
Rainforest Conservation Camps are offered for the local Costa Rican students and teachers to get them out to see what remains of the rainforest in their own country. Traveling to remote areas like the Campanario Biological Reserve is financially quite limiting for many Costa Rican families. Subsidies from the APC can bring the cost to the participant down to within reach of most families. In some cases, coordination is made with visiting international students through exchange programs so that the Costa Rican host/hostess participates alongside his international "brother" or "sister", and they study and work in the rainforest together.
Trail Network Promotion
Join us in Forest Conservation.The Osa Peninsula, fortunately, still has large areas of forest left, but only some of which is in hands of landowners dedicated to conservation. The pressure of logging, road building, and conversion to pasture land are real and ever-present. The APC is working on a campaign to build a trail network through these forested lands to encourage landowners to keep their forest and to provide rustic lodging or other low impact accommodations for tourists hiking the network.
Rainforest Land Acquisition
The APC is actively engaged in fund raising to acquire additional lands, those still with natural forest cover and those in danger of encroachment, in order to place them in a "reserve" status. With the help of grants and donations from international foundations, school groups, and concerned private citizens world wide, the protected area of the Osa Peninsula can continue to increase.
There are several abandoned tracts of land in the area, most of which are still in rainforest, which are either under considerable pressure to be "developed" and/or are simply for sale by the owner wanting to leave the area. In both cases there is no secure future for the forest that remains. The APC is working to acquire the funds to purchase these lands. This means raising funds for not only the actual land purchase price, but also an amount to place in a trust fund for the continual protection of the area.
Contact us on how you can help.
"RED COSTARRICENSE DE RESERVAS NATURALES"
Proyecto Campanario is an active member and sits on the board of directors of the Costa Rican Network of Natural Reserves. This network of private reserves encourages private sector land owners to maintain as a reserve whatever lands they own and manage which are in an unaltered and natural state. It is hoped that by forming an extensive network of biological corridors between one small reserve and the next throughout the country the "Network" will have substantially added to Costa Rica’s already famed system of parks and reserves. To date there are over 110 members which total more than 5% of the total area of Costa Rica. The "Network" also serves as an advocacy group for its members.
National and International Conferences & Seminars:
Proyecto Campanario has made a continuing effort to participate and be represented in national and international conferences and seminars and to keep up-to-date with the latest information. We have been fortunate to be part of many events, be they just a meeting of a few hours or a full week of workshops and classes. We will continue to participate in future events and represent the conservation efforts in the Osa Peninsula.
Cooperating Organizations and Sponsors
Proyecto Campanario also works with and is sponsored by individuals and organizations in different occupations, but of like minds. Here is a bit about each of them:
Participate actively in volunteer services.COTERC
Proyecto Campanario works closely with the Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation to encourage research of the tropical lowlands of Costa Rica.
COTERC also maintains a field station for this purpose in the canals area near the town of Tortuguero in northeast Costa Rica. Their Website is: http://www.coterc.org
Pacific Blue Traders
Pacific Blue Traders offers the unusual and unique home and garden decorating element from around the Pacific rim. As a business and as individuals, Pacific Blue Traders are committed to promoting environmental ethics and support Proyecto Campanario through their sales. www.pacificblue.net
Caldera Kayaks
Caldera Kayaks offers low impact kayak touring of the lakes and rivers of California with occasional trips south to Central America and the Osa Peninsula. Contact them for tour availability.
Biodiversity and Physical Profile
What you’ll experience...
Soak up the beauty of rushing streams.The Campanario Biological Reserve is located in the humid tropical Pacific lowlands of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica and stretches nearly 150 acres from sea level to 155 meters above. It is proud to support many of the diverse habitats needed for the wide array of mammals (at least 139 species), reptiles and amphibians (at least 117 species), birds (over 350 species), and insects (too many to count!) that can be found in this remote area where no roads nor electricity have reached. Many of these species are rare or endangered and include: tapir, giant anteater, white-faced monkey, tayra, jaguar, puma, white-lipped peccary, pilot whale, hump-back whale, scarlet macaw, and chestnut-mandibled toucan, among others.
We are pleased to announce that the Black - cheeked Ant Tanager, one of six species of birds endemic the Osa Peninsula, can be found within the reserve. This bird can be found nowhere else in the world.
View inhabitants of the Osa Peninsula.Trails through the primary and successionary forests weave through lush vegetation, including over 120 different tree species which have already been identified within Campanario itself. The Reserve has three permanent streams and a beautiful coastline with 4 small pristine beaches, clear warm surf and several rocky points, one of which protects the small bay which is the gateway year-round to the Reserve.
The mean daily temperature at the Field Station is 24-25 C (75-77 F). An average year sees 4-5 meters of rainfall, making Campanario one of the wettest areas in Costa Rica (and the world).
Hike trails at your own pace.In addition, Campanario lies in close proximity to five national protected areas (see map on first page). Trips to Campanario pass through the Sierpe-Terraba mangrove reserve, and both Cocovado National Park and Isla del Caño Biological Reserve are within 1 hour of the field station. Isla del Caño also offers trails to indigenous burial grounds and spectacularly clear waters for snorkeling and scuba diving.
Proyecto Campanario is proud to be part of the biological corridors protecting the biodiversity of the Osa Peninsula.
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Story Source: Personal Web Site
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Costa Rica; Service; Bodiversity; Conservation
PCOL3560
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The Picture of the man with all the coatimundis's by his feet eating whatever the man is feeding them., has got to be one of the greatest pictures i have ever seen on the net.
Respectfully,
Joe Cooke
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By Hunter (1cust670.an3.cle11.da.uu.net - 63.23.34.158) on Friday, February 16, 2007 - 10:46 am: Edit Post |
you're not supposed to feed wild animals...