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Will you help us save nature today? Your donation goes directly to Paso Pacífico’s conservation programs that restore and protect the Pacific Slope ecosystems of Mesoamerica — these habitats include the endangered dry tropical forest, mangrove wetlands, and eastern Pacific coral reefs.
In the areas where we work, we have planted more than one million trees, employed dozens of community members, stabilized the dwindling population of the yellow-naped amazon parrot, increased the population of the critically endangered black-handed spider monkey by more than sixty percent, helped launch more than ten ecotourism businesses, assisted in the creation of three local marine industry cooperatives, created new protected areas, and graduated more than 350 children from our popular Junior Ranger program, which teaches children about local wildlife, sustainable conservation, and community leadership.
Our programs connect people with nature to create safe passageways for wildlife while simultaneously building more resilience in communities and ecosystems in Central America.
Paso Pacífico's approach is integrative, iterative, and community-based. By working with local communities, landowners, and partner organizations, we are restoring and protecting the habitats that form building blocks for wildlife corridors.
Our scientists and community-based staff track wildlife conditions and listen to communities, learning social needs and developing good working relationships with key community figures. We prioritize the most urgent conservation needs by considering threats, risks, and the status of key species.
We study the unmet needs of animals and their habitats in their entire context—historical, cultural, political, biological, and economic—and begin designing solutions. Since problems usually have several factors, we launch solutions that incorporate multiple approaches. We apply technology and scientific procedures, incentivize best practices in the community, and implement social programs that involve and empower local communities.
The climate crisis gives us our purpose to create wildlife corridors and to support local communities, providing economic incentives to people when they participate in wildlife protection activities that allow for wildlife and people to coexist.
The people of Central America benefit greatly from the resources we provide and empower them with. Our Junior Ranger program inspires Nicaragua’s youth, creating the next generation of environmental stewards, while our efforts to conserve wildlife ensure that the future of the country is ecologically diverse. We believe in empowering communities by working directly with them and listening to their needs with care. Our approach to saving wildlife is unique, innovative, and produces real results.
The Junior Rangers program uses engaging classroom instruction, experiential field trips, and community service projects to teach principles of biology, ecology, and environmental citizenship. After school and on the weekends, these children learn about and come face to face with sea turtles, endangered monkeys, plastic pollution, mangroves, and more.
Though we are always coming up with new ways to save the animals, one thing remains true: the communities we work with benefit greatly from the conservation and education that we provide.
For the first time in four years, a cyanoptera macaw fledged its nest because of our round-the-clock protection from poachers. Without our team protecting the baby, the beautiful bird would have been captured and sold into animal trafficking.
After a successful nesting season for the macaw, our team threw a party for the Junior Rangers and the community to celebrate! The celebrations included meals made by the community and piñatas for the children. Our junior rangers were also awarded with certificates for their devotion to conservation.
Our projects illustrate the need for our unique approach to saving ecosystems and combating climate change while also benefiting the communities we work with.
New technology is one of our most powerful tools in conservation. For instance, we invented the InvestEGGator decoy egg which is helping us map illegal egg trafficking routes. The replica egg, which is indistinguishable from a real egg, is tracked by our team when taken by poachers, and is helping us to develop a map to unveil the trafficking system. We also work on the ground, which includes sending rangers to protect endangered animals, such as the cyanoptera macaw, from poachers. When people invest in our efforts, they aren’t just investing in the future, they’re investing in the now.
Success for us means empowering community members who will utilize their resources to protect the beautiful ecosystems around them. By our measures, we have been incredibly successful in establishing an empowering environment by which the local peoples of Central America can work with alternative economic opportunities that enable conservation. We believe in delegating responsibility to community members who can ensure that their ecosystems are protected not just in the present, but for decades to come.
Would you give $4 a month to support four nonprofits that are making a big difference? Join forces with other 52andChangmakers to automatically give to every Cause of the Week. Every Monday, you’ll wake up knowing you’ve already made a difference! As our community grows, so does the impact!
Together we’ve become volunteers in places we would have never expected, planted milkweed for butterflies, provided books to kids in need, helped save endangered turtles, helped turn excess food into nutrition, helped bring art to youth, educated one another about how we are connected to our delicate food systems, helped save abandoned horses and given old dogs new hope, watched foster youth shine in the spotlight of movie making, helped clean tires out of rivers… we could go on and on and on. It is an absolute joy to be a part of such an amazing network of humans making a difference.
“ALMA reconnects the lives of the formerly incarcerated back to the fabric of society. Our participants have the chance at attaining gainful employment and becoming self-sufficient. Urban Farming helps everyone involved explore the relationships between plants, animals and humans as a way of creating a profound connection to both nature and their community.” - ALMA Backyard Farms
While we’re writing this and you’re reading it, Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes is out there, finding ways to provide food to more people in need throughout Santa Cruz County, where one of three residents are reported to be food insecure.
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