We have installed a Motus receiver!
Can you guess what this picture means for science and conservation? What are you looking at in this picture? And why should you care? This is not an announcement that Finca Cántaros got cable. Instead, we are excited to share that we have installed a Motus receiver! A what? Motus is the Latin word for […]
Why are women the main focus of one of our programs?
In honour of International Women’s Day, I would like to answer two questions that staff at Finca Cántaros have been asked: Doesn’t everyone matter equally when it comes to conservation work? So why are women the main focus of one of our environmental education programs? Answer 1: Of course. We are all in this work to […]
One “species” in the forest of environmental education: environmental identity
Environmental education (EE) is a diverse forest, like our young Children’s Forest of Coto Brus. And EE is at the core of all our goals at Finca Cántaros Environmental Association. Each of the different native species planted in our Children’s Forest represents one of the many unique goals of the vast field of EE. From cultivating […]
Is Finca Cántaros Environmental Association focused on birds?
Question: “Is Finca Cántaros Environmental Association (FCEA) focused on birds?” Response: “Yes AND no! No AND yes!” The other day, on the very same day, two unconnected people asked me in two distinct conversations: “your organization focuses on birds, right?”I laughed out loud and sighed a little on the inside on both occasions. I will explain, […]
Finca Cántaros and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030)
We are 11 days in to this much-anticipated new year. A year that is NOT 2020. And a year that kicks off the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). How does it feel so far? We could easily despair 24/7 about the direction the pandemic will take in 2021, the state of politics in the […]
2021 is upon us! And so is the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Are you looking forward to 2021? Maybe you share the dominant collective feeling about this exceptionally strange year with thousands, captured by the catchy Avenue Beat song: “f**k 2020… I am kinda done… can we just get to 2021!?!” (2020). But what do we think or hope will happen when we get to 2021? One certainty is that […]
Interview with “Las Dueñas”
I sat down to an interview with Portuguese aunt and niece Isabel and Ana Gomes da Silva one sunny day when they came to Finca Cántaros to deliver an aromatic order of their Las Dueñas Coffee. I consider it the official brew of our new Finca Cántaros Environmental Association. Isabel and Ana are two of the […]
Plastics Pollution & Solutions
The last time I went surfing I broke my “paw,” also known as the fourth finger on my right hand. The nickname arose not from the absurd ball-shaped bandage it required—reminiscent of a “chuck-it” toy used to play fetch with a dog—but because the only X-ray machine near the site of my accident was at […]
Ever heard of a Helmet-headed Lizard?
Ever heard of a Helmet-headed Lizard? Me neither, until it was registered as a new species at Finca Cántaros! Our wildlife manager/“in-house biologist” David Rodríguez went out a’wandering one night, and stumbled upon a new species at Finca Cántaros: the Helmet-headed Lizard (Corytophanes cristatus). Pretty cool, right? The species is distributed from Veracruz, Mexico to northern Colombia. Its […]
Children’s Forest of Coto Brus: 2020 Update
This past weekend, there were actual CHILDREN in the Children’s Forest of Coto Brus (at Finca Cántaros) for the first time this year. (Take that, 2020!) The Finca Cántaros, San Vito Bird Club and Monteverde Bat Jungle teams welcomed them with impeccable 2020 style: Big smiles, just hidden behind masks, and lots of enthusiasm, just […]
