Tales from the Jungle: April
At times like these, it can be easy to get wrapped up in the fear and uncertainty of everything. One of the best ways to combat negative feelings is to practice gratitude – which is why I want to share with you some of our positive “tales from the jungle”!
1000 trees in our forest nursery!
Despite the ongoing quarantine restrictions, we are still committed to reforesting disturbed areas with sloth-friendly trees. SloCo agronomist (tree whisperer) Patricio has been working hard behind the scenes in isolation, growing over a 1000 new trees in our forest nursery during April. He tends his “babies” daily as they await the forever homes – once the crisis has passed.
Young trees are always vulnerable to destruction from browsing animals and accidental mowing. To protect our young saplings, Patricio has developed tree guards made from recycled plastic bottles. This system reduces the amount of plastic waste going into the ocean or landfill, whilst also helping to protect our young saplings as they start out on their journey.
- Read more: Connected Gardens
Getting to know Team Sloth: Cecilia
Each month I will be shining the spotlight on one of our team members in Costa Rica to earn how (and why) their job working to save the sloths. This month I would like to introduce you to Cecilia (or “Ceci”), our Field Operations Manager, and creative sloth guru! Ceci (originally from Argentina) now spends her days coordinating our in-field sloth conservation projects and designing all of our online content!
Did you miss our Facebook Live Q&A?
Finally, for those of you who missed out on my Facebook live Q&A session, not to worry – you can check out the full video below. I really enjoyed connecting with all of you. I was truly impressed by all your wonderful questions! Thank you all for your interest in our work to safeguard the future of sloths. I will do another Facebook live Q&A session shortly – I am looking forward to connecting with all of you then!
While we are continuing to follow social distancing guidelines here at SloCo, we are making the most of this time in isolation to build up our programs so that we can hit the ground running as soon as it’s safe to do so. I am incredibly grateful for your continued support during these times and I am excited to share our progress with you as we move forwards.
Thank you for joining us on our journey to save sloths, and I hope you are staying safe during these frightening times.
All the best from sunny Costa Rica,
Dr. Rebecca Cliffe
Founder and Executive Director
The Sloth Conservation Foundation
