Central America is a region of the Americas. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south. Central America consists of seven countries: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Their combined population is estimated at 44.53 million (2016).
The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, fungus, and plant species as well as their habitat for the future. Conservationists are concerned with leaving the environment in a better state than the condition they found it in. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more effective.
La Selva Biological Station is a protected area encompassing 1,536 ha of low-land tropical rain forest in northeastern Costa Rica. It is owned and operated by the Organization for Tropical Studies, a consortium of universities and research institutions from the United States, Costa Rica, and Puerto Rico. Recognized internationally as one of the most productive field stations in the world for tropical forest research and peer-reviewed publications, La Selva hosts approximately 300 scientists and 100 university courses every year. The primary goal of La Selva Biological Station is to preserve and protect an intact forest, as well as providing laboratory facilities for tropical research and education. The research potential of the area is not only vital to tropical ecology, but it is also an important location in the effort to study relations between local communities and protected areas. In addition, its high diversity and ease of access to the Puerto Viejo-Horquetas highway makes La Selva an important ecotourism destination and environmental education center for tourists and the local community.
National System of Conservation Areas or SINAC,, is part of the Ministry of Environment and Energy or MINAE of Costa Rica. It is the administrator for the nation's national parks, conservation areas, and other protected natural areas.
Golfo Dulce is a gulf in Costa Rica, located at the South of the Province of Puntarenas. The inlet starts on the Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica and extends slightly northward before turning west. The most westward part is at the city of Rincon. The bay separates the Osa Peninsula from the mainland Costa Rica.
The Area de Conservación Guanacaste is a network of protected areas and a World Heritage site in Guanacaste Province, in northwestern Costa Rica. The world heritage site contains an unbroken tract of tropical dry forest and important habitat for several vulnerable species, including the Central American tapir, mangrove hummingbird, and the great green macaw. Over 7,000 plant species and 900 vertebrate species have been located in the park.
Guanacaste Conservation Area is an administrative area which is managed by the Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion (SINAC) of Costa Rica for conservation in the northwestern part of Costa Rica. It contains three national parks, as well as wildlife refuges and other nature reserves. The area contains the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site, which comprises four areas.
Piedras Blancas National Park is a national park part of the Osa Conservation Area. It is found in the Puntarenas Province of southern Costa Rica near the town of La Gamba. It protects rainforests and beaches near the Golfo Dulce on the Pacific Coast. It used to operate as part of the Corcovado National Park called the Esquinas Sector from 1991 before becoming a separate park in 1999. Until the mid-1990s, much of the forest in the park was severely endangered by logging.
La Gamba is a village in the Guaycará District of Golfito canton, which is part of Puntarenas Province of Costa Rica. Village inhabitants are employed in agriculture and in jobs offered in cities such as Golfito and Rio Claro.
Andasibe-Mantadia National Park is a 155 square kilometre protected area, located about 150 km east of Antananarivo, consisting principally of primary growth forest in Alaotra-Mangoro Region in eastern Madagascar. The park's elevation ranges from 800 to 1260 meters, with a humid climate. Average annual precipitation is 1700 mm, with rainfall on 210 days of each year. This rainforest is habitat to a vast species biodiversity, including many endemic rare species and endangered species, including 11 lemur species. The park's two component parts are Mantadia National Park and Analamazoatra Reserve, which is best known for its population of Madagascar's largest lemur, the indri.
Field Station La Gamba, in the “Rainforest of the Austrians” in Costa Rica, is an Austrian research, teaching and continuing-education institution, whose mission is to contribute to research on tropical rainforests, to generate interest in conservation and in rainforest research, and to give interested persons an opportunity to deepen their appreciation of nature within the rainforest.
Today, forest and woodland cover in Uganda stands at 49,000 km² or 24% of the total land area. Of these 9,242.08 km² is tropical rainforest, 350.60 km² are forest plantations and 39,741.02 km² is woodland. 30% of these areas are protected as national parks, wildlife reserves or central forest reserves.
Deforestation is a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems in Costa Rica. The country has a rich biodiversity with some 12,000 species of plants, 1,239 species of butterflies, 838 species of birds, 440 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 232 species of mammals, which have been under threat from deforestation.
Santa Clara is a town and corregimiento in Renacimiento District, Chiriquí Province, Panama. It has a land area of 67 square kilometres (26 sq mi) and had a population of 2,642 as of 2010, giving it a population density of 39.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (102/sq mi). The corregimiento was created by Law 41 of April 30, 2003.
Tortuguero National Park is a national park in the Limón Province of Costa Rica. It is situated within the Tortuguero Conservation Area of the northeastern part of the country. Despite its remote location, reachable only by airplane or boat, it is the third-most visited park in Costa Rica. The park has a large variety of biological diversity due to the existence within the reserve of eleven different habitats, including rainforest, mangrove forests, swamps, beaches, and lagoons. Located in a tropical climate, it is very humid, and receives up to 250 inches (6,400 mm) of rain a year.
Desarrollo Forestal Montreal S.A. is a nature reserve and cloud forest adjacent to Braulio Carrillo National Park in the central area of Costa Rica, about 30 miles (48 km) north of San José. The area is located between 1600–1800 meters (5,249–5,905 ft.) above sea level and extends throughout the mountain range.
Michael Schnitzler is an Austrian American ecologist and musician.
Playa Cativo is located in the Golfo Dulce, in Costa Ricas' south Pacific. Its name, Cativo, comes from a tree: Prioria Copaifera. The surrounding waters are part of the Piedras Blancas National Park to protect the needle-fish spawning grounds. A former extension of Corcovado National Park, Piedras Blancas National Park has over 35,000 acres of rainforest that surrounds Playa Cativo and was created in 1993 to protect the lowland tropical rainforest in the Golfo Dulce. Accessible only by boat, Playa Cativo was awarded the Ecologic Blue Flag for its cleanliness and sustainability practices. Because of the variety of micro climates, including wetlands, and the fact that is a gathered point for birds from North and South America, this area is considered a bird watcher's paradise. The four species of monkeys of Costa Rica has been seen there and about three families of hauler monkeys stay year round near the shore. The beach was originally a family farm and in the early 70's was sold. In 1980 was built the Rainbow Lodge in Playa Cativo, followed by the Buenavista Lodge. In July 2014 Playa Cativo Lodge opened after a full renovation. Playa Cativo's residents are committed to preserve the area as untouched as possible, and have established many sustainable practices and was recently awarded the Ecologic Blue Flag by the Costa Rica government. Among other actions, was created a recycle hub center as a free service for the people from the nearby beaches and communities. The electric power at Cativo is 100% clean and comes from an hydroelectric micro-generator and solar panels. The water source comes from a spring in the mountains behind Cativo beach and is clean and clear. Some of the all fruit trees still in the property, providing fresh organic fruits to visitors. Its tranquil waters are perfect for sea kayaking, stand up paddle boarding, swimming and snorkeling. As there are no roads to Playa Cativo, a 30 minutes scenic boat ride will take residents to Golfito or Puerto Jimenez, and often are seen dolphins and the seasonal humpback whales. Golfo Dulce, also known as Gulf of Dulce, is in the inner side of Osa Peninsula and across from Corcovado National Park.