Monday, December 27, 2010
Executive Summary =D
I sent out a note to my colleagues a few days ago to let them know I had returned, and though it might be interesting to post here a part of that note:
· Census of the planted trees: measure high, diameter and surrounding forest basal area. This sounds easy, but it’s less so when the trees are located in muddy 30 degrees slopes full of other vegetation!
As many of you know, this year I had the great opportunity of being sponsored to participate in an Earthwatch expedition through Project Better World. Earthwatch is a non-profit organisation that facilitates groups of volunteers (not necessarily scientists) to work with researchers doing environmental field work throughout the world. Shell supports Earthwatch by sponsoring its employees to participate as volunteers.
I was selected to participate in a forestry study in the Puerto Rican Rain forest at the end of November 2010.
The research was conducted by Tropic Ventures, an organisation aiming to demonstrate that it is possible to do sustainable forestry in the tropical rainforest. Puerto Rico’s rainforest is mainly secondary forest, as most of the primary one was cut down in the 19030-50’s to make space for sugar cane and coffee plantations. After the 1950’s these industries collapsed and people moved to the cities, leaving the forest to re-grow. Tropic Ventures has been planting valuable wood trees (Mahogany and Blue Mahoe) for the last 30 years in between the native trees (it’s not a real plantation, if you’re a non-expert like me you need to look hard to know which ones are the planted trees!), in part to stabilise the soil and protect the watersheds, but also with the intention of harvesting some of these trees in order to allow the people working in the project to make a living out of it. The specific objective of the Earthwatch sponsored project is to make sure that the planting and harvesting of the Mahoe and Mahogani trees is not having a negative impact on the biodiversity of the forest. We helped with field research in the following topics:
· Herpetology study: Study the population of frogs and lizards in the forest and compare planted plots to untouched ones. This involved spending lots of time on our hands and knees looking for the little things, who of course where perfectly camouflaged in the leaf litter or the tree trunks!
· Fungal study: Understand the main fungus present in different parts of the forest. And you needed good vision to see the tiny fungus happily eating away at fallen trees.
Friday, December 17, 2010
I'm Back!
I'm back! =D I arrived back yesterday 16 Dec 2010 from my 23 day adventure: Firstly on the Earthwatch expedition to Puerto Rico, followed by a holiday to visit a friend in Costa Rica.
Both were extremely rich experiences, totally exceeding my expectations. Since this blog is about my Earthwatch expedition I will leave my impressions of Costa Rica to Facebook, and focus on Puerto Rico here.
When I left I thought I had done too much preparation as to ruin the 'wow' factor, but I was proved wrong. Being there in the forest, getting down and doing the research work was not only fun and enjoyable, but also educational and meaningful. I learnt so much about the local ecology, and feel more enlightened about the real challenges the environment and researchers face. I have a renewed respect and appreciation for the Scientists who dedicate their time to this work.
On the social side, the four permanent staff members that we were working with were great, so down-to-earth and knowledgeable, evoking enthusiasm about their area of study (yes, I have actually become excited about fungi, lizards, trees and of course frogs!). The team of 6 others volunteers was a smaller group than usual but we formed a great team, really focused on working hard and being diligent, and also enjoying our free time. One of the volunteers (Karina) was from the same company as myself, although working in a completely different department, we only met once we had arrived.
The activities were not as strenuous as I had initially expected, and were in fact quite relaxed and manageable most of the time. But there were moments when I looked at the river we had to jump across or the steep muddy bank we had to climb, and wondered to myself how it would turn out :-). However every time we made the leap and survived. And at those times we didn't quite manage to stay on our feet, sitting down and sliding down in the mud was good fun too. :-)
So yes we did work hard, but got time to relax and enjoy our surroundings too. One day we went into Old San Juan for some sight seeing, and another day we went to the Botanical Gardens to listen to a well respected Forester talk about his lifetime of work. One evening we also ventured into the nearby town to take to the streets our newly learnt Salsa dancing skills that we had aquired the night before at a private Salsa class.
And then there was the food! We were fed well, spoilt in fact with the great food. It just kept on coming, and all so yummy it was so hard to resist. We joked that they were trying to fatten us up for the kill at the end of the trip ;-) Of course no one forced you to eat the brownies or cakes, so the real problem was my lack of will power. :-)
We were very lucky with the weather, mostly dry (about 1h of rain in one day and just 1 rainy night) and not too hot, about 25C during the day. Actually the researchers kept saying it was "unseasonably cool". I did need a light sweater and long trousers at night. But even with the dry weather, we did get very muddy, but after the first day, it doesn't matter anymore!
But instead of just telling you about it, let me show you! In the next posts I will publish pictures and more detailed about the activities
Both were extremely rich experiences, totally exceeding my expectations. Since this blog is about my Earthwatch expedition I will leave my impressions of Costa Rica to Facebook, and focus on Puerto Rico here.
So yes, the Earthwatch Expedition was ALL that I had hoped for and more!!
Simply a WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!!!
I would go back in a heartbeat if I had the chance - I recommend anyone who wants to go, to GO. Apply NOW and GO!!!
When I left I thought I had done too much preparation as to ruin the 'wow' factor, but I was proved wrong. Being there in the forest, getting down and doing the research work was not only fun and enjoyable, but also educational and meaningful. I learnt so much about the local ecology, and feel more enlightened about the real challenges the environment and researchers face. I have a renewed respect and appreciation for the Scientists who dedicate their time to this work.
On the social side, the four permanent staff members that we were working with were great, so down-to-earth and knowledgeable, evoking enthusiasm about their area of study (yes, I have actually become excited about fungi, lizards, trees and of course frogs!). The team of 6 others volunteers was a smaller group than usual but we formed a great team, really focused on working hard and being diligent, and also enjoying our free time. One of the volunteers (Karina) was from the same company as myself, although working in a completely different department, we only met once we had arrived.
The activities were not as strenuous as I had initially expected, and were in fact quite relaxed and manageable most of the time. But there were moments when I looked at the river we had to jump across or the steep muddy bank we had to climb, and wondered to myself how it would turn out :-). However every time we made the leap and survived. And at those times we didn't quite manage to stay on our feet, sitting down and sliding down in the mud was good fun too. :-)
So yes we did work hard, but got time to relax and enjoy our surroundings too. One day we went into Old San Juan for some sight seeing, and another day we went to the Botanical Gardens to listen to a well respected Forester talk about his lifetime of work. One evening we also ventured into the nearby town to take to the streets our newly learnt Salsa dancing skills that we had aquired the night before at a private Salsa class.
And then there was the food! We were fed well, spoilt in fact with the great food. It just kept on coming, and all so yummy it was so hard to resist. We joked that they were trying to fatten us up for the kill at the end of the trip ;-) Of course no one forced you to eat the brownies or cakes, so the real problem was my lack of will power. :-)
We were very lucky with the weather, mostly dry (about 1h of rain in one day and just 1 rainy night) and not too hot, about 25C during the day. Actually the researchers kept saying it was "unseasonably cool". I did need a light sweater and long trousers at night. But even with the dry weather, we did get very muddy, but after the first day, it doesn't matter anymore!
But instead of just telling you about it, let me show you! In the next posts I will publish pictures and more detailed about the activities
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