The rains have not dampened activity at TORTUGuiones or BarriGuiones!

Date

TORTUGuiones’ focus in May was its “No Plastics” campaign. A series of educational talks with local school groups in Nosara, Santa Marta, and Del Mar Academy discussed the TORTUGuiones project, basic sea turtle biology, the marine food web, and threats to sea turtles, with a specific emphasis on marine debris and single-use plastics. The campaign is encouraging kids to come up with creative solutions to avoid the use of single-use plastics such as plastic bags, straws, and plastic cutlery. The group at Del Mar Academy will adopt the “No Plastics” theme for its “Change Challenge” aimed at encouraging environmental sustainability in the school and local community.

No Plastics campaign with kids

TORTUGuiones’ educational campaign on the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge continues by:

  • Distributing copies of its new informational brochure around town
  • Seeking prominent places, especially tourist information centers and rental offices, to post laminated flyers that showcase the Refuge’s regulations
  • Selling new vinyl TORTUGuiones stickers in local stores (currently at Organico and Guiones Mini-Mart) for a $5 donation to the sea turtle project.

Please contact TORTUGuiones if you’d like to feature any of these at your business; Vanessa will drop some off.

Maps of the location of our beach markers along the beach are now available. These maps can be used as reference for reporting sea turtle activity, and might also serve as distance markers for walkers/runners (markers are spaced 50 m apart), and location reference for meeting points or in emergencies. The maps are available in the group’s Facebook albums and at the Google maps link: here.

Finally, Lisa Robbins joined the TORTUGuiones team as a volunteer administrative assistant. Lisa is a recent graduate of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is excited to spend some time in Guiones helping TORTUGuiones!

Please continue to report sea turtle activity by clicking the link at www.tortuguiones.org
And keep an eye out for upcoming fundraisers!

TORTUGuiones

Meanwhile, BarriGuiones sponsored three tree plantings on the beach, for a total of 266 trees. On May 18, a group of 23 students from the Instituto San Joaquín de Flores planted 136 trees. During the Circuito Nacional de Surf in Guiones, local surfers helped BarriGuiones plant 30 trees. And on May 26, Sea States is an international program to do volunteer work, attend workshops, and plant trees.

Tree Planters

The work at the nursery doesn’t stops either. The group has had great success germinating many seeds from different species such as Pochote, Panamá, Ceibo Barrigón, Flor Blanca, Guacharo, Papaya, and Mangle Botón. This last one, also known as Bottonwood mangrove, has been difficult to germinate in past years, but BarriGuiones was finally able to reproduce it this year by imitating its natural environment in which the seeds sprout.

Gerardo Bolaños says, “We are very excited about this great rainy season so far, and are looking forward to begin giving workshops and planting trees with the local schools in June!”

More planters – Instituto San Joaquin

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