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Ceiba: Connecting Nature and People
See what the Ceiba Foundation has been up to the past year!
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People Need Nature, and Nature Needs People |
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Hot on the heels of celebrating a new conservation easement to protect the Lalo Loor Dry Forest Reserve for years to come, the pandemic upended tourism in Ecuador. Owners of private reserves, like the Loor family, and the Lima family of the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve, saw their principal source of income vanish. Thanks to our donors' support, Ceiba extended immediate relief funds, keeping rangers employed to thwart illegal hunting and logging. Wildlife thrived as peace and quiet reclaimed the forests, revealing just how resilient nature can be when it is properly protected.
With field courses and projects suspended, Ceiba’s board and staff took time to reevaluate our conservation strategy and refocus our mission: Connecting Nature and People. We connect habitat remnants with corridors of reforestation to conserve biodiversity; we connect human livelihoods to environmental protection by supporting sustainable land use; and we connect learners of all ages to the wondrous ecosystems around them through outdoor education.
Reconnecting with nature has been a bright spot in these trying times. Unable to safely attend indoor gatherings, people are escaping to natural areas in unprecedented numbers, seeking rejuvenation of the body, and the mind. As travel restrictions have lifted in Ecuador, there has been an uptick in visitors to the El Pahuma and Lalo Loor reserves. Ceiba worked hand-in-hand with reserve staff to implement recommended safety protocols, rerouting trails into one-way loops and substituting live guides with improved signage. Even so, it remains hard to earn a living by protecting a forest. If it were easier, the world might not be facing the deforestation, climate, and biodiversity crises of today.
The pandemic has been a wake-up call to the risks posed by destruction of the environment. Now more than ever we need nature, but nature also needs us. It is up to all of us to support the wilderness areas that not only safeguard Earth’s biodiversity, but also nurture our own health and spirit. We invite you to connect with Ceiba, and join Joe and Catherine in making a life-long commitment to nature
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Coastal Conservation Corridor Links Northern and Southern Hemispheres |
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Ceiba’s dream of a Coastal Conservation Corridor came to fruition with ratification of our bold Conservation and Sustainable Use Area (or ACUS in Español) in western Ecuador. The declaration spans the equator, encompassing a total land area of 800 square miles, and protects 330 square miles of endangered forests. We know that the hardest work is still to come: expanding community buy-in, raising sufficient resources, and holding municipal governments accountable. |
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Reactivating Coastal Tourism and a New Green Economy
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Long term conservation is only possible when the aspirations of local communities align with the goals of habitat and species protection. For years, Ceiba has promoted sustainable entrepreneurship within the Coastal Conservation Corridor, and now we have new backing for these programs. We were recently awarded a grant from the German Agency of International Cooperation to work with four coastal communities nestled in the tropical deciduous forests near Machalilla National Park and El Pelado Marine Reserve. |
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Hugging Trees, Teaching Teachers, and Inspiring Children |
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Spotting howler monkeys, taking photos to compare different seasons in the forest, and measuring (and hugging!) trees are all fun outdoor activities at the heart of our local environmental education programs. Through several key partnerships, Ceiba continues to stimulate ecological awareness and environmentally-conscious attitudes in future generations on the Manabí coast, sometimes even virtually!
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Relief When It Was Needed Most |
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In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic hit with ferocity, shuttering businesses, suspending classes, canceling visits to the reserve, and suffocating the local economy. People were in trouble, and looking for help. Thanks once again to an international outpouring of support, Ceiba was able to leap into action to assist those most in need. Our network of contacts, and history of collaboration in this remote coastal region, helped us mount a targeted response within weeks of the pandemic striking Ecuador.
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ALUMNI UPDATE: Michelle Hu, TCS 2011
"In the nearly 10 years that have passed since I attended Ceiba’s Tropical Conservation Semester program (TCS), I’ve built trails, traveled across the western US and Central America, picked up rock climbing and snowboarding, and finished an M.S. in Water Resources. Now I’m working towards a Ph.D. at the University of Washington, using satellite remote sensing and modern data science approaches to study seasonal mountain snow." Read more...
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Ceiba stands with those who support peace, justice, equality, and freedom. For over twenty years, we have been striving to make the world safer, more diverse, and more equitable. Ceiba is committed to creating a more just world where everyone can enjoy, learn about, and protect nature. We are working to establish a scholarship to make our study abroad and internship programs more accessible to Black, Indigenous, and other people of color. A 2017 National Science Foundation study revealed that only 6% of study abroad students identified as Black, despite making up 13.4% of the population, and only 6% of all life science doctorates were awarded to Black students. Our vision is of a world where everyone has equal access to the joys of the outdoors. As Maya Angelou said, “the truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free.” |
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Your secure donation supports Ceiba in empowering communities to protect biodiversity, combat climate change, and promote the sustainable use of natural resources. Thank you. |
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