Last month, we told you about the launch of our new program, Guardians of the Pacuare (Guardianes del Pacuare in Spanish), uniting the Pacuare tourism community and key conservation and municipal actors to work together to preserve the Pacuare River Basin, the forest and biodiversity, and stimulate community involvement.
Our first meeting on May 26 at the Turrialtico Lodge in Turrialba was a huge success! Owners and managers of lodges and rafting companies operating on the Pacuare attended, along with Roberto de la Ossa, the Director of the National Alliance of Rivers and Watersheds of Costa Rica, SINAC official Eyder Fonseca who is the executive secretary of the Caribbean Biological Corridors Program, Frank Vargas of the Barbilla-Destierro – Paso del Jaguar Biological Subcorridor Committee, and Leo Martinez and Osvaldo Martinez of the Cabecar community of Nairi-Awari.
In alphabetical order, here are the 15 companies and organizations that are the founding members of Guardians of the Pacuare:
- Amazing Vacations Costa Rica
- Barbilla-Destierro – Paso del Jaguar Biological Subcorridor Committee
- Coast to Coast Adventures
- Costa Rica National Alliance of Rivers and Watersheds
- Excitement Costa Rica
- Finca Tres Equis Farm & Forest
- Guardabosque Territorio Nairi-Awari (Nairi-Awari Territory Rangers)
- Mariposas del Pacuare
- Pacuare Lodge Costa Rica
- Pacuare Outdoor Center (POC)
- Pacuare River Lodge
- Rios Lodge
- Rivers and Forests Alliance (RAFA)
- SINAC – Barbilla National Park
- Tico’s River Adventures
As we get our projects underway, we will expand our membership to include more companies and key stakeholders and extend our influence upriver and downriver.
At the May meeting, we presented our first projects of joining the Citizen Water Observatories (OCA) program of the National Rivers and Watersheds Alliance of Costa Rica and the Natural Resources Vigilance Committee (COVIRENA) being formed by the Barbilla-Destierro – Paso del Jaguar Biological Sub-Corridor Committee. We also discussed several exciting initiatives to create together and ideas we will continue sharing.
We are very grateful for everyone’s commitment to nature and protecting and preserving our jewel, the Pacuare River watershed.