In 2000, the Rainforest Biodiversity Group began presenting education programs to school groups and adults in both Costa Rica and the United States. We have spoken with thousands of people over the years about the Great Green Macaw, its conservation issues and our projects.
In 2006 and 2007 RBG’s community outreach and education focused on providing local landowners, communities and their members with information about the Costa Rican Bird Route (CRBR). During this time we hosted a workshop in San Jose at the Tropical Science Center where we gave a presentation to the landowners who were selected to be a part of the CRBR. The information presented was on all of the sites involved in the project, as well as details on the subsequent steps in the Bird Route development.
RBG hosted a second workshop with the landowners at Selva Verde Lodge. Here the landowners were presented with the CRBR Map and Guide, and later were given the opportunity to help plan the CRBR Opening Event. The workshop was two days, with the second trip being a field trip to various CRBR sites to educate the group on what different landowners were doing for habitat protection and eco-tourism development.
In addition to the landowner workshops, RBG in conjunction with the Sarapiqui Tourism Board, gave presentations about the CRBR and its conservation principles to the communities of:
We will be further developing our education programs in the region of the Costa Rican Bird Route through our connection and integration with the Sarapiqui Conservation Learning Center. The Sarapiqui Conservation Learning Center (SCLC) is a fully independent U.S. and Costa Rican non-profit organization. The SCLC works to link communities and conservation through education and ecotourism in the Sarapiqui region of Costa Rica’s northern lowlands. The SCLC focuses its efforts in four areas – environmental education, community development, conservation and eco-tourism – in order to help form future environmental leaders, raise the organizational capacity of local communities, promote sustainable land use, and connect tourists to the local community.
RBG is not only active in conducting its own environmental and conservation education, but is also supporting other education efforts in the region. La Montana para Investigacion y Conservacion Ambiental (La MICA) is a biological station in Panama, a project coordinated by the Parque Nacional General de Division Omar Torrijos Herrera (PNGDOTH). La MICA is being built in an effort to enhance conservation, education, and research in PNGDOTH. This environmentally friendly research station will provide services to researchers, students, and visitors from around the world. La MICA will be constructed, operated, and supported by the local people.
RBG believes that it is not enough to just create sustainable conservation projects; education must be incorporated and the local people involved if the conservation ethic is to be perpetuated.
