The Location: Puerto Rico Rainforest

So with 64 days to go this entry is to give you an overview into the destination and the location of the "Las Casas de la Selva" project

 The project research is being done in Puerto Rico. So where in the world is that? Well firstly lets zoom on Central America and the Caribbean islands:

Then zoom in a little more and you can see Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean, South East of Florida.  Puerto Rico is a part of the USA, and contains the only tropical rain forest in the United States National Forest System.

What is a rainforest? What makes it different to a normal forest?  Generally a tropical rain forests is located around the equator where temperatures are around 27 degrees C and it receives 400-1000 cm of rain each year.


Well the Puerto Rico Rainforest has more than 100 billion gallons (yes, billion) of rain fall each year, creating a lush forest with plants of incredible proportions and variety. 

The total area is 11,270 ha and contains over 240 species (26 species are found nowhere else) of trees and plants, which explains why there is a lot of energy given to preserve floral species and animals that are on the verge of extinction. 


Living in the forest is the tiny coquí frog. The name is derived from his cricket like ko-kee chirp, this tiny creature is considered to be the national mascot.

Which one of these is not true if I say you'll find it in the forest?


a) 50 species of birds
b) 11 species of bats
c)  1 species of alligator
d)  8 species of lizards
e) 13 species of coquí 

For thousands of years tropical rainforests have been managed to sustain productive agriculture and at times to sustain dense human populations. It is estimated according to this website that more land was under cultivation in the Amazon on the eve of the arrival of Columbus than is today.  

But have we now gone to far?  This is the subject for the next entry... What activities are we going to do on the expedition to access the status of the rain forest' sustainability

First Pondering about Puerto Rico

Hello, my name is Bronwyn and welcome to Puerto Rico Ponderings!

I am going on an expedition to Puerto Rico 22 November - 2 December 2010 as a volunteer on an Earthwatch research assignment.  The assignment is to study the impacts of industry on the local rainforest, and to access if it's sustainable.  This research will be done in different ways but primarily by counting frogs (more of this later I promise!) and measuring trees.  I have no background in biodiversity or rainforests, but already I have learnt a lot through my preparation and hope to learn even more when I am there.

How did I get to go you may wonder? Yes, good question especially since I am relatively an IT geek who loves my PC and works for an Oil Company.  Well I have been involved with various volunteer programmes over the years, so getting involved is not something new to me, but all of them have been related to children and their well being.  This definitely is my first environmental expedition, and a big step for me in a totally new direction.

Why did I want to do this then? I decided that only reading about sustainable development was not enough. I wanted to know more through experiencing it, but also get my hands dirty at making a difference.  And it was about taking an opportunity - I am fortunate that my company sponsors a small amount of candidates for such projects, so I applied for this assignment through my company and was accepted as a volunteer on my first choice - Puerto Rico.

I am super excited about this adventure, and I hope through this blog to share some of the adventure with you! :-)  I hope you will join me and provide some of your thoughts and feedback.  If you have any comments or questions please drop me a note in the comments section below.

Topics I plan to cover in future blog entries:
 * More about the Puerto Rico rain forest I'll be visiting
 * Preparations and the practical details of what I'm doing
 * Things I have learnt so far
 * What can you do in your area to support sustainable development - if you have anything you would like to share please do let me know!!

You can read more about the details of the assignment on the Earthwatch website.