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