Dear Wildlife Conservation Community,
What a summer and rainy season it's been! Between the increase in attention from the Nosara community on water quality and the growth of our other programs, well... let's just say we've been keeping busy. Here are some updates on everything we've been up to since our last newsletter. It has been such a pleasure to get back out in the field, host activities, get feedback from and make more connections with the community.
Thank you for supporting our work!
Program Updates
Water Quality
We continue to test and report water quality results for three locations on a weekly basis. Our 6 month report drew a lot of attention from the community, resulting in a news article, webinar, feature on Nosara Podcast and community meeting over the last few months. We are in the final stage of acquiring permits to conduct DNA testing that will allow us to track the source of fecal bacteria contamination in the water, which will measure the percent of bacterial contribution from humans, cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, and dogs.
We are excited to share that a generous contribution from 5D World will cover the full cost of our water quality program in 2023! We have also established a partnership with Surf Simply, who is graciously sponsoring an additional testing site for next year. We are still waiting to hear back from our grant applications, but overall lots of interest and support is coming in for this program.
Learn more about this program and stay updated with the latest results on Swim Guide, Blue Water Task Force and Instagram.
Biodiversity
It has been so exciting to witness and share monthly observations from the 14 camera traps we installed in the Nosara area since April. Some cameras were temporarily taken down during rainy season to avoid water damage but we will have them all back up and running in November. So far, we've collected 479 observations of 35 different species, including white-tailed deer, coyote, and ocelot! Our iNaturalist project now has 49 members and over 500 people have contributed observations.
As a part of our partnership with Mango Realty, we have compiled a NEW Construction Guide to help community members reduce the impact of their construction process on the environment. We are also in the process of developing a certification program for homeowners, vacation rentals, and businesses to achieve a certification from the WCA for meeting certain requirements that reduce their impact on the environment. We hope to implement this in early 2023, so keep an eye out!
Learn more about this program and check our iNaturalist project page to see the latest observations of wildlife in the area. And follow us on social media to see our campaign to promote sustainable living in the area!
Sea Turtles & Marine Life
Unfortunately, the harmful algal bloom (or red tide) has still been present in the area intermittently, along with poor visibility and water quality typical for this time of year, which has severely limited our time spent in the water. We are anxious to re-install the marine buoy and get back on out, and planning to do so in early 2023 as soon as conditions improve. In the mean time, we have just put out a call for volunteers and will be training community members to report sea turtle activity.
Check out our NEW "Sound Waves" channel on YouTube!
Sound Waves is an immersive listening experience, capturing the sounds of Nosara, Costa Rica. Wherever you are in the world, this is an easy way to reconnect with nature!
Your Support Can Take Us Even Further!
We know that Nosara is growing and changing, but part of what makes the community so special is the incredibly positive and supportive network of generous contributors, who want to keep our town just as beautiful as it's always been. Creating a more sustainable and lasting community that communes with the natural environment is what motivates us to keep up our important work.
This work is made possible by your generous contributions. Thank you!