WCA Newsletter (August 2021)
Dear Wildlife Conservation Community,
Our organization keeps constantly adapting to the rapidly changing realities of today - we hope you are too!
The rise in COVID cases in Costa Rica this May continued to delay the much anticipated delivery of our underwater drone and marine buoy for research, in addition to causing the cancellation of a 4-week science camp we had planned in July.
Nonetheless, our team of volunteers, interns, and supporters keeps growing. We've continued to develop new merchandise, membership and partnership programs, and exciting new tour offerings to support our cause - all featured on our beautiful new website. Check it out!
Program Updates
Water Quality
We've been sharing results with the community and the response has been overwhelming! We now have a team of volunteers working on finding short-term and long-term wastewater management solutions. We are raising funds to continue monitoring water quality, developing educational materials, offering consultations and capacity training to keep Nosara's drinking and recreational water clean. Learn more about this project and get the latest results on Swim Guide and Instagram Stories.
Nosara Biodiversity Project
Our project page has grown to over 4,000 observations of over 1,000 different species! We are excited to be working on partnerships with local hotels, schools, and protected areas to install camera traps to monitor terrestrial mammals in the area. Check out our project page to see all of the beautiful photos of species being observed in the area and contact us today to sponsor a camera trap!
Sea Turtles & Marine Monitoring
This project has been delayed due to the pandemic - we are anxiously awaiting the delivery of our replacement underwater drone and marine buoy to explore the ocean, study sea turtle behavior, and monitor important oceanographic parameters in Ostional.
Education
The Virtual Field School course continues to be a success, with 6 courses offered and 57 students participating so far. We have big plans for more virtual events, educational programs and materials soon!
Thousands of Turtles Tours
In light of regulations and restrictions due to the pandemic, we adapted our tour offering and resumed offering the arribada experience by private tour only in March 2021. We have also expanded our tour offerings to offer a variety of other sea turtle and wildlife-related experiences in Nosara. Learn more at wcanosara.org/tours
Check out our new video!
Your Support Means More Now Than Ever!
As many other non-profit organizations and small businesses around the world, we are working hard to keep our organization afloat. We've had to cut back significantly on our programming over the last two years and we're fundraising in hope of returning to full operation in 2022.
Our work is made possible by your generous contributions!