By Sarah Otterstrom | Executive Director
Dear Friend,
During this challenging year, we thank you for supporting the Junior Ranger program in Nicaragua. Since our last update, the rains of the season increased and the once dry landscape turned green. Thankfully, covid cases decreased during this period and so we were able to resume educational activities in small groups.
It was not completely easy. Nicaragua was hit by two major hurricanes (Eta and Iota), and during those weather events, we canceled activities and focused on helping families move to higher ground. Eta caused damage and flooding in many homes, but Iota was less destructive in the far southwest corner of Nicaragua. Fortunately, all of our children were safe.
- In September, children learned about waste and recycling. Then, children participated in Nicaragua's international coastal clean-up along streams and beaches near their homes.
- In October we celebrated bats. Children learned about the important things that they do as pollinators, seed dispersers, and controllers of insect pests. They took some time to develop art projects focused on these .
- Children also participated in birding observation outings with the adult rangers and through lessons about birds and art projects. Outings included October Big Day where children learned how to use the eBird citizen science platform for recording bird observation.
- After nearly a week of rains associated with the hurricane Eta, children participated in a listening excercise where they sat and listened to the forest and the sounds of birds and animals, and then wrote down their observations.
- A favorite field trip for the children was a trip to the mangrove estuary in early December where the children learned about the importance of these wetlands to wildlife and to protect the community from storms.
- As the rainy season has come to a close, there is a lot of garbage and debris that has been transported by water. The children finished up the year with one more beach clean-up.
In our Junior Ranger program, we are once again practicing strict social distancing and outdoor- mask-wearing as reports of Covid in Nicaragua have begun again.
We are grateful to you for supporting these children as explore their natural world and ways to protect it.
Sincerely,
Sarah
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