Interface of the ParkExplorer, the virtual tour application of ParksWatch\’s upcoming website
ParksWatch’s mission is to protect biodiversity by gathering, analyzing, and publicizing up-to-date information on the state of tropical parks.
About ParksWatch
ParksWatch was founded in 1999 by Dr. John Terborgh, James B. Duke Professor of Environmental Science at Duke University. Headquartered at Duke’s Center for Tropical Conservation, ParksWatch works in partnership with local NGOs and individuals to conduct on-site evaluations of protected areas. Results are compiled into reports called “Park Profiles” and shared directly with park stakeholders in print and through our Web site. As of December 2006, we have evaluated over 110 protected areas in Central and South America and are fast becoming a major clearinghouse for up-to-date information on tropical protected areas in this region.
At the 2nd Latin American Park Congress, which took place in early October in Bariloche, Argentina, ParksWatch announced the launch of GreenVest, a new and ambitious program that will tie PW data to an online fundraising system for protected areas.
As an introduction to this new website, we would like to take you on a tour of one of its flagship applications: the ParkExplorer (see Figure).
Starting from a general representation of NASA\’s spectacular Blue Marble satellite image mosaic, an interactive map allows to zoom-in to a bird\’s eye view of PW-audited protected areas. As in mainstream mapping applications (e.g., Google Earth), the level of detail is sufficient to interprete relief and vegetation patterns, as well as the human footprint.
Once a park has been selected, you are invited to explore the features that appear in the right-hand side panel, a wealth of multimedia materials including charts, photo galleries, commented slide-shows, videos, overflights, sound recordings, 360° panoramic pictures, and even an interactive 3D model of the park.
These interwoven components are meant to introduce visitors to the parks\’ natural and cultural resources and provide useful tourist information and tips, but also to convey more \”mission-oriented\” information on the park\’s conservation status, threats and most pressing logistical needs, with a direct link to a shopping-cart type donation system.
One particularly exciting feature is the panoramic scene, dotted with animated animals and their vocalizations, which offers a virtual immersion into the park\’s most spectacular or unreachable places (sometimes acquired at considerable physical effort). At any moment, you can climb again in a virtual aircraft and resume the overflight. With time, we intend to enrich this experience with video clips, more educational material and other innovative contents, but chances are this Beta version will already catch you off guards…
PW-Brazil: Resuming activities after a strategic pause
In Brazil, Fundação O Boticário de Proteção à Natureza (FBPN) is currently working to reestablish ties with the Brazilian Park Administration after its recent restructuring and the creation of the Chico Mendes Institute. During this lengthy and often confusing political process, FBPN put its PW-related activities on standby to redefine the strategy underpinning its collaboration with PW, which the board wished to be more results-oriented. It is thus with enthusiasm that FPBN decided to embrace PW\’s revised methodology and objectives, with plans to start applying it to all the protected areas located in the vicinity of its private reserves.
Besides its relationship with PW, FBPN recently launched a pioneer payment for ecosystem services (PES) incentive plan to commit landowners to conserve tracts of forest in the watersheds draining the Sao Paulo metropolitan area. The region still has 40,000 hectares covered with natural vegetation in the form of forest patches and riparian forests acting as ecological stepping stones for wildlife. These remnants are highly strategic due to their biological relevance (97% of the Atlantic forest biome have been cleared for human activities) and importance for watershed conservation, supplying nearly 4 million people with water.
Satellite Image of the Greater Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area. Remnant patches of natural vegetation appear in dark green.
FBPN spent two years developing this project, during which time its staff identified and mapped priority areas for conservation and analyzed PES schemes in other countries, such as Costa Rica\’s successful experience. Once the implementation phase starts in a few months, FBPN will mobilize entrepreneurs and landowners, as well as all possible conservation partners. \”We will seek the participation of representatives of the São Paulo businesses in an initiative of utter relevance, visibility and environmental and social impact,\” says Maria de Lourdes Nunes, executive director of FBPN.
*Ecological services are all the ecosystem functions necessary to human well-being, such as natural water filtering, climate regulation, carbon sequestration from the atmosphere, biological control of plagues and pollination.
PW-Southern Cone: Program consolidation and development
The regional ParksWatch Southern Cone program, headquartered in Argentina has pursued its consolidation and is achieving governmental recognition. The publications of the Instituto de Análisis de Recursos Naturales (IARN), the program\’s coordinating institution, are increasingly used in the planning and management of the corresponding parks. Some of their observations and recommendations have sparked a lively debate within the National Park Administration (APN). All reports exhort the government to enact and enforce conservation-friendly regulations and to adopt a long-term vision in its policy planning.
PW-Southern Cone has been consulted by the governments of the Río Negro and Chubut provinces on park planning issues, and is also providing advice to the regional World Bank office and the Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina (FVSA). The latter has expressed its interest in applying PW\’s auditing tools to its network of private reserves and to forge an alliance to assess the status of Argentina\’s 44 coastal protected areas — most of which are severely underfunded and understaffed.
It was in Argentina that PW\’s first \”State of the Parks\” report was published this year, featuring an in-depth assessment of four Patagonian National Parks and paving the ground for the publication of a regional assessment in the near future.
At the IVth Brazilian Parks Congress, organized by PW Brazilian partner Fundaçao O Boticario in Foz de Iguazú in June, PW-Southern Cone director Adrian Monjeau presented the results of an assessment of Latin American protected areas, conducted in partnership with the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS) at Conservation International. The first of a series of public talks given by Dr. Monjeau across Argentina, this lecture demonstrated the acute vulnerability of the continent\’s last large wilderness areas. The study spurred a national debate and inspired several conservation groups to contact PW-SC for collaboration at the protected areas they support.
PW-Mexico: A human tragedy in the Chichinautzin Biological Corridor
In early March 2007, Gerardo Carreón, coordinator of PW in Mexico, travelled to the Chichinautzin Biological Corridor to identify key informants for an update of his 2002 evaluation as part of the GreenVest initiative. During his visit, Gerardo met Ildelfonso Zamora, one of several park residents operating an ecotourism project on Lake Tonatiahua with support from the National Park Agency (CONANP). Zamora told him of the community\’s efforts to denounce the illegal logging activity taking place within the protected area\’s boundaries and carried out by residents of adjacent communities. Not only were these complaints met with indifference by the authorities, but the angry loggers also took it upon themselves to burn down one of the recently erected tourism cabins.
In May, just a few days before PW\’s field visit, the media announced that Ildelfonso and his two sons had fallen prey to violent retaliations for speaking out. Ildelfonso\’s 21 year-old Aldo Zamora lost his life, while his other son was severely injured. To those who knew them and their deep commitment to conservation, the news could not have been more disheartening.
During his stay in the area, Gerardo conducted a second interview with the mourning father and environmental advocate, who, in spite of his grief, delivered the following message:
\”Unfortunately I\’ve had to pay a high price to achieve this, but I have faith in divine justice and believe that the murder of my son will one day be avenged. In spite of what my family and I have had to go through, I have the relief to say that Aldo\’s death was not in vain. Life will go on, and we will keep on defending these forests, in benefit of the residents of San Juan Atzingo and in fact of all Mexicans.\”
Illegal logging in the Biological Corridor. Photo © Trevor Snapp.
Tonatiahua Lake, home of the Tlahuica ethnic group\’s ecotourism project. Photo © Trevor Snapp.
Ildefonso Zamora, father of the man who was assassinated for denouncing illegal logging activities within the protected area. Photo © Trevor Snapp.
A narrated slide-show of Ildelfonso\’s story can be viewed here
PW-Peru: Expedition to the confines of Peru (Güeppi Reserved Zone)
After a week spent traveling down the slow-moving waters of the Napo River on a small barge connecting the remote Güeppí region with the Amazonian town of Iquitos-sharing an exiguous space with other passengers loaded down with plantain, yucca, rice and corn bags, pigs and even cows-you reach a village called Cabo Pantoja. This is the region\’s last supply store, after which you have to be fully self-sufficient. There you can rent a peque peque, the typical Amazonian outboard motor-powered canoe, and reach the Lagartococha River by driving up the lower part of the Aguarico River along the Peru-Ecuador border.
Not many miles away, the Putumayo River separates Peru with yet another country: Colombia. Peru, Ecuador and Colombia share here a common tropical ecosystem of high biodiversity value and exceptional conservation status.
Within this setting, the Güeppí Reserved Zone is part of a transboundary protected area network which comprises the Cuyabeno Fauna Reserve in Ecuardo and La Paya National Park in Colombia. With its forests flooded during the entire rainy season and its rivers bordered by ample sandy beaches in summer, Güeppí is a magical place. Populations of large vertebrates seem to be more abundant than in other parts of the Amazon, and the forests are in good conservation status. Coordinated actions between the three countries could turn this region into a successful tourism hub and foster sustainable development with local participation.
Traveling way back to Iquitos, the public barge becomes yet more crowded than on the outbound journey. It turns into a moving circus boasting an eclectic assortment of domestic animals and food products. Hammocks obstruct the corridors and the interior living space, making displacements on the deck nearly impossible. When the lunch or dinner bell rings, one reaches the canteen with great difficulty, but the real challenge is to move back across the maze and find a quiet place to eat without tipping the plate over.
Another bewildering spectacle is the loading of cattle onto the ship: the animals typically refuse to climb on the boat. They first have to be caught, tied with a rope and then pushed onto the embarkation with great effort. This often involves the boat\’s entire crew, of which more than one ends up fully covered in mud if not trampled by the reluctant animal. Once onboard, foul smells quickly start emanating from the newly arrived passenger, which range from highly unpleasant to completely unbearable according to wind speed and direction…
The Napo River by day
Sunset on the Napo River
Crewmembers struggling to load the cattle onto the ship
In an attempt to make the trip more bearable, I chose to set up my tent on the deck rather than sleep in a hammock inside the cabin. Although I had to share it with the chickens, there was still more space, a better view, and thankfully a lot more air to breathe. This is probably how I made it back home. Though I may have raised some undue attention, torrential showers kept the curious away most of the time. The only real problem was somehow dodging the countless branches that threatened to tear my tent apart every time the boat stopped to pick up or drop off passengers. I generally had to move the tent from one side of the deck to the other to keep it from tipping over, and the boat stopped literally night and day…
Diego\’s refuge on the deck to escape from the cabin\’s chaos
Instead of providing the relief that comes at the end of a tiring journey, the arrival in Iquitos felt rather like landing into yet a worse chaos. The buzzing motorcycle and general street noises were adding up to the suffocating heat of the tarmac. The ant-like procession of pedestrians and motorists in all possible directions contrasted with the deep peace and quiet of Güeppí\’s forests and rivers. The next day, once somewhat recovered from this exhausting trip, I thought how this fragile tranquillity could easily be lost to any one of the various activities I observed and documented during my visit, among which the illegal extraction of natural resources, wildlife trade, logging, land invasions and, last but not least, oil exploration.
PW-Bolivia: Echoes from a new local partner
In Bolivia, where ParksWatch initiated a partnership with Fundación Natura Bolivia (FNB) at the beginning of the year, we have focused on applying our new assessment protocol to two of the country\’s most prestigious protected areas: Amboro and Noel Kempff Mercado National Parks. Both parks are important centers of endemism and harbour unique vegetation assemblages such as Podocarpus forests in the former and so-called \”termite pampas\” in the latter, extensive altitude grasslands dotted with thousands of termite mounds that act as refuges for endangered species that act as refuges for endangered species such as the Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), the Giant Armadillo (Priodontes maximus) and the Black-and-tawny Seedeater (Sporophila nigrorufaí), an endemic bird.
Besides its partnership with ParksWatch, FNB specializes in the development of financial mechanisms for conservation and sustainable development. In this respect, FNB explores, designs and in certain cases implements ideas and ventures aimed at harmonizing both worlds. At present, FNB relies on support from eight national and international financial institutions for the development of economical incentives fostering both the conservation of critical habitats and economic development of local dwellers.
In parallel, between 2004 and 2006 FNB coordinated the technical and scientific assessment that served as support for the creation of the Río Grande Departmental Park, and is now working with the Santa Cruz Municipal government and water supply cooperative to establish a cost-effective water supply scheme that will financially retribute the city\’s main source of water: Amboró National Park.
Panoramic view on the Mosquera mountain range (Postrervalle, Santa Cruz Dpt.)
PW-Venezuela: Educating politicians on protected areas
In June of this year, in partnership with the Ecological and Environmental Sciences Institute (ICAE) of the Universidad de los Sciences Institute (ICAE) of the Universidad de los Andes and TNC, Bioparques launched a nationwide public dissemination campaign on the importance of protected areas in Venezuela. A primary objective of this operation is to provide support to the governmental agency in charge of Venezuela\’s natural heritage, Inparques and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MARN).
ICAE is in charge of the GEF-funded \”Andean Paramo Project\” whose scope encompasses the Colombian, Ecuadorean, Peruvian and Venezuelan Andes (www.paramo.org). In Venezuela, 79% of remaining páramo ecosystems are protected as National Parks or Natural Monuments.
The current project is the pilot phase of a larger project whose objective is to design a communication strategy meant to bring nature conservation to the forefront of the public debate and improve the profile of protected areas with the political elite.
PW-Guatemala: Active in exile
In January of this year, the founders of PW partner Trópico Verde, Carlos Albacete and Piedad Espinoza narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in Guatemala City. Returning home from the airport on the night of January 10, a car overtook them and partially blocked the road. At least three men got out and began to fire at their taxi. The taxi driver immediately accelerated and drove away, saving their lives in the process; while the men continued to shoot at the taxi as it drove away, they did not take chase. Since the attack, there has not been any progress in identifying those responsible. The investigation has been marked by a series of irregularities, and has failed to bring those responsible to justice.
Concerned for their safety, Carlos and Piedad left Guatemala soon after the attack. Nevertheless they continue, from the U.S., their struggle to protect the Mayan Biosphere Reserve.
To Our Supporters
Current support for ParksWatch comes from generous contributions from the Blue Moon Fund, the Conservation Strategy Fund, the Center for Tropical Conservation, the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University, and individual supporters like you.
We sincerely thank you for your support and wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The ParksWatch team, December 2007
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