Getting to know Team Sloth: Meet Ceci!

Cecilia, our communications officer, comes from the steppes in Patagonia, a dry, arid, windy, and cold landscape very far away from the hot, humid rainforests of Costa Rica. Her journey in conservation began with a bunch of photos of birds.

What originally led you to the conservation field?

“I’ve always been passionate about wildlife ever since I was a child. I started reading when I was really young and I remember this book that was called, Nature Endangered. I remember how much it shook me. I still have the image of the cover in my mind, it had a sea turtle on the front, I still have the book.

My first impression of nature was that it was endangered – and that was 30 years ago. I feel quite privileged that I was exposed to this information at such an early age. I think, to this day, that is why I love sea turtles so much; they were one of the first animals that I came to learn about by reading that book.”

What is your role at SloCo?

“I help coordinate all the projects, and I am also responsible for all of SloCo’s communications and fundraising. I am a visual artist with more than 23 years of experience in tourism, and worked in conservation for the past ten years.

Who is your role model?

“More than a single role model, I always try to find inspiration in collective enterprises. I really believe that together we are stronger. One of my favorite authors is Eduardo Galeano, who really understood the history of Latin America; once said, “A lot of small people in small places, doing small things can change the world”.

We may be a small team here at SloCo but in reality, there are thousands of people behind us. All of us are pushing together toward a better future. Maybe that is why I don’t have a particular role model.

We put people on pedestals, and some people deserve it, but we also tend to minimize the things that we do. Small things, day after day, are what are important. Another one of my favorite quotes that you can find in Galeano’s books is “Utopia is on the horizon. I move two steps closer; it moves two steps further away. I walk another ten steps, and the horizon runs ten steps further away. As much as I may walk, I’ll never reach it. So what’s the point of utopia? The point is this: to keep walking.”

What does a regular workday look like for you?

“I spend a lot of time on the computer working on fundraising, answering to donors, searching for partners and fundraising opportunities, helping with some projects in the communication area, creating designs, researching, learning, editing, writing, engaging with the community, and developing strategies and content for social media. At the moment, a lot of computer work, but I really love doing fieldwork as well.”

What is it like working in Costa Rica?

“I think the greatest opportunity for working in Costa Rica, is the general mentality of protecting nature. This is important for the people and the authorities as well.  Costa Rica is a great hub for conservationists all over the world.”

What does conservation mean to you?

“Conservation is a tool to create a better civilization; it protects nature and also provides a source of welfare to the people. You cannot have both separately; it won’t happen.”

How did you first become involved in conservation?

“I first got involved in conservation when I started to volunteer at Iguazu National Park. It is one of the few subtropical ecosystems in the north of Argentina, and home of one of the most impressive waterfalls in the world. There even used to be sloths there, although the records are somewhat unclear. My partner and I went there because we wanted to escape one of the long winters of Patagonia, and we knew it would be warmer.

We first volunteered with the rangers. We would be there all day long walking through the park. The park usually has 7,000 visitors per day. Wandering around the park when no one was there was one of the best experiences of my life.  I took pictures of everything.”

“When I started to go through the photos, I noticed that I had taken so many pictures of birds. Wondering what types of birds they were, we bought a bird guide. Growing up in such an -apparently- desolate place as the steppes in Patagonia, we had always despised the ‘desert’. But when we returned home after experiencing the rainforest, we came back with a different mentality.

We bought a guide for the birds of Patagonia, and we became bird watchers. We came back the next year to Iguazu and started to collaborate with biologists surveying capuchin monkeys. We also worked with an organization that was tracking jaguars. In Patagonia, we started to collaborate with a local organization dedicated to shorebird conservation. We came to Costa Rica with all of that background, hoping to find volunteer opportunities in conservation. It all started with a bunch of pictures of birds.”

What is one of your favorite things about sloths?

“Oh my goodness. Biologically speaking, they are fascinating. But I admire them because I can relate to them on a philosophical level. The world is always rushing. Our culture, our system is super fast. “I don’t know what I want but I want it now” kind of mentality. Sloths are the opposite of that. We can take the pace of the sloth and adopt their ways. Being intentional about what we do and being respectful to one another.”

If you didn’t work with sloths, which species would you like to work with in conservation?

Sea Turtles, undoubtedly.

Outside of work, what do you like to do?

“I love to swim in the ocean. I have been practicing a way of swimming inspired by the ways that sloths swim through the water. I’m a beach boss – I love the ocean.”