Conservation Science Interns and Volunteers at Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

There are 78 protected areas in the SINAP system, managed by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) in Nicaragua. Among the most conflictive of these areas is Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, because of the beautiful views and warm, clear water. This protected area faces many challenges but none is as grave as that of real estate development.
FUNDECI/GAIA maintains a permanent presence in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, through the operation of the biological research station "Estacion Biologica". We conduct a number of environmental studies and conservation actions through our research station there, and we share our knowledge about Nicaragua, its language, culture and great natural heritage through courses and internships offered there.

FUNDECI/GAIA Conservation Science Intern Ruben Pelckmanns participates in bird population monitoring in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. Photo Pablo Somarriba.

Conservation science interns and volunteers are essential to our work in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. We are conducting studies of birds, monkeys, plants and fish during 2014 at this location, in coordination with some universities and MARENA. We are comparing animal and plant surveys to previous years to determine how the forests improve or degrade. Frankly, our initial results have suggested some important loss of habitat in some of the most important areas for biodiversity in this location.

Conservation Science Interns at FUNDECI/GAIA can work on our wildlife monitoring project in the Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. Photo Pablo Somarriba. 

We at FUNDECI/GAIA are committed to seeing Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve prosper as a natural area. Obviously, not everyone feels the same, and we have had to deal with some very negative forces in the area, especially coming from people who want to gain riches from investing in property inside the protected area for real estate development. Some of these people really do not like us, and we have recently won an important civil judgment against some of them. There is great opposition to protecting the forest and lake from their greatest enemies, the real estate offices!

These volunteers left us with a poignant and environmental message.  Photo Pablo Somarriba.

The GAIA Program in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve also promotes environmental conservation projects, particularly reforestation in some of the affected areas in the reserve. Our group was instrumental in the production of the first-ever official management plan for the Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, with GAIA director Jeffrey McCrary as the coordinator of the project, which involved dozens of work meetings with the community and government officials, reviews of biodiversity, geography, land use, sociological factors, and lots of maps and other information for use in the plan.

The finding of a freshly dead bird led to a skin preparation. Photo Pablo Somarriba.

Our interns can be involved in ongoing studies on the environment in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. We have been conducting studies of bird, bat and butterfly populations in the reserve for several years. We are looking for historical trends in populations which may demonstrate differences in land use in five different sites inside the reserve.

FUNDECI/GAIA volunteers at Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve painted realistic images of some of the wildlife found in the area, along the wall of the entrance to Estacion Biologica. Photo Pablo Somarriba.

Interns may also take on conservation projects. One of our oldest environmental volunteering projects is reforestation. We harvest seeds, plant and grow native trees in our tree nursery, and plant them in deforested areas in the forest. But the most important aspect of our project means the difference between success and failure-it is the continued care of the planted trees for years after planting. Many reforestation projects exist in natural areas, but few of them succeed in recreating natural forest, because tree survival is typically zero for those projects. 

We also rescue wild animals. Interns can work on animal care with our animals, which include two macaws. They can also participate in fundraising for the care and re-introduction of rescued wild animals. 

FUNDECI/GAIA volunteers participate in discussions on the environment and social issues in Nicaragua with guests at Estacion Biologica. Photo Pablo Somarriba.

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Conservation Science - Birds in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua

Although many people only think of Laguna de Apoyo as a place to swim or to build a house, fascinating wildlife can still be found in its forests. Our bird monitoring program, managed by the biologist Jeffrey McCrary in coordination with the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA), is now in its fifth year, is intended to demonstrate what is important about this forest as a natural area. We have been very successful in identifying some of the more important places as bird habitat in the Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. In one of the sites we study, a pair of Pale-billed Woodpeckers (Campephylus guatemalensis) is regularly seen. Here is a picture of the female, taken by the FUNDECI/GAIA intern Pauline Pearse.

Female Pale-billed Woodpecker in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua. Photo Pauline Pearse.

Our list of birds documented inside Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve now reaches well over 225 species. Although we are surveying only a small fraction of the 2500 hectares of land, well over a quarter of all the birds documented in Nicaragua have appeared here. We continue to press upon the authorities at MARENA and community to enforce policies against hunting, wood extraction, building and other land uses which destroy the habitats for birds like the Pale-billed Woodpecker. For instance, this bird is not found in the less mature forests on the north side of the lake, but rather only where there is a greater amount of intact, mature forest, in the southwest corner of the reserve. There are not so many places in Nicaragua where this glorious bird can be seen easily, so we are always happy to get a glimpse.

This juvenile Grey Hawk (Buteo nitidus) is a typical sighting in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. Photo Pauline Pearse.

The documentation of biodiversity and the environmental effects on it by human activity requires detailed work, much of which is performed by the conservation science interns at FUNDECI/GAIA. Their assistance in our long-term bird studies is essential to understanding how an area so heavily used by humans can retain its qualities as a natural area for wildlife.

Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve is home for many birds, including the colonial nesting Montezuma Oropendola (Psaracolius montezuma). Photo Belen Camino.

We recognize that the threats are palpable to these wild animals. For instance, on two occasions, the Montezuma Oropendola (Psaracolius montezuma) colonies in the area have been affected by landowners destroying their nesting colonies. In many areas where houses are found, large trees that would attract the birds are downed, limiting the potential habitat for these and many other birds.

FUNDECI/GAIA conservation science intern, Ruben Pelckmanns, at work on a study of the motmots. Photo Pablo Somarriba.

We are continuing to gather information on the wildlife of the area, with the aid of visiting scientists, interns and volunteers. Our studies have recently been widened to consider nest sites, in which two of our conservation science interns have participated. We invite interested people to contact us and participate in the study and protection of this special natural area.

Migratory birds such at the Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) are important components of the birdlife in Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve. Photo Onno Bierman.

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