It is the start of the dry season here in Cocobolo Nature Reserve which means the team can get back and do some much needed work. The local staff have been holding the fort, so to speak, since last July but now Michael, Kurt and volunteers, Trev and Lucy are on the ground raring to go.

Obviously we just want to get out into the forest and start collecting observations of the millions of species that call Cocobolo home, start setting out camera traps, and generally just marvel at all that grows in this special piece of rainforest. Unfortunately there are some jobs that do really need doing around camp that just can’t be left. One of the most important is the access road. Those of you who have been to Cocobolo will know that there are actually two ways in to Cocobolo, one short route; we know is passable as we drove it getting here.  However if it rains a lot it becomes impassable and the long route has to be taken.  This route crosses and re-crosses the Mamoni River multiple times which can be very problematic but it really is the only choice if rain has left the steep short route dangerously muddy.

So one of our first tasks was to grab pick axe and shovels, don rubber boots and walk the 3 or so kilometres towards La Zahina village to see how the crossings have fared over the wet season. Now, on the surface, this task seems like it would be really unwelcomed by a group of naturalists who just want to get into the forest but as you never know what’s round the next corner all four of us grabbed not only tools but binoculars too.

Off we set wading across the first river crossing, a quick stop to watch a kingfisher and a couple of kiskadee before walking a nice dirt road with cow pasture one side and the river on the other and trees forming a canopy overhead.  It really was more of a stroll, no one was in a hurry and there were plenty of pauses to take in the birds using the cow pastures like smooth billed ani, savannah hawk and swooping swallows.

We did eventually make it to the main steep river crossing where we put in a good couple of hours hard graft digging sand and laying rocks to give the tyres some kind of purchase up the steep exit. We set up a chain gang strung across the river to move the rocks throwing from person to person which really worked well until someone’s attention drifted off towards a distant raptor or a heron flying past and was rewarded by a rock in the chest!

After fixing this the most important crossing we continued our walk along the dirt road, in this section there were pastures interspersed with forest that contained some good sized trees lining the sides of the road. The team were spread out and as the lead pair turned a corner under a big tree I saw something big flush from the tree landing soon after on another big tree. To my utter delight when I untangled my binocular straps from my shovel handle and got a focus on what it was I discovered a beautiful juvenile spectacled owl balefully staring down at me. I managed to get the attention of the rest of the team and everyone gathered round for some really astounding views of the this stunning tropical owl in broad day light. Generally spectacled owls are nocturnal so to spend time with this youngster in the good light was really special. 

Of course none of us actually had a camera with us so no pictures but it will remain in my memory at least as one of those great spots. What started out seeming like a day of work turned out to be full of surprises thanks to nature.

To have a chance of averting the most extreme climate disaster the biodiversity crisis, and related food and refugee crises, the world must halt tropical deforestation and degradation and restore significant amounts of former forested areas. We are continuing to head in the wrong direction, but is there some light beginning to shine?

Through 2020 12 million ha of tropical forest was lost, 4.2 million of that from primary forests. Brazil lost 1 million ha of Amazonian forests in 2020, amounts not seen since 2010 and 3 times its target rate according to its own national policy. Deforestation in the tropics continued unabated despite calls from NGOs for a moratorium. In 2021, Brazil saw another spike in deforestation rates. Already burnt in 2020 with 30% of its area devastated, the Pantanal, the largest tropical freshwater wetland, burnt for the second year in a row with an estimated total of 0.68 million ha lost in 2021, putting this ecological wonder at even greater risk of collapse. The so called “savannisation” of the Amazon is predicted to lead to heat stress and significant health risks for over 11 million people in Brazil by the end of the century due to regional climate change caused by this fast pace ecological destruction. We use Brazil here as an example, but this trend is being seen in much of the humid tropics.

The increase in deforestation, especially Brazil, is due to national policy enforcement failure. Gains were made in the Amazon during earlier this century due to concerted efforts by industry and government. An example of this is the Amazon Soy Moratorium,  an agreement by grain traders not to purchase soy grown on recently deforested land, which is estimated to have prevented 8,000 ± 9,000 km² of deforestation over its first decade (2006–2016) of implementation, while soy output went up by 400%. These gains however were drowned out by the effect of the cattle industry which in 2020 had a disproportionate effect on deforestation rates in the Amazon. It is imperative that world governments, industry and consumers wake up to the disaster that looms ahead of us.

There was some good news in 2021. COP 26 saw world governments coming together and agreeing on several important climate change issues, although it is yet to be seen how these will be implemented by national governments. The Glasgow Climate Pact calls on governments to present increasingly ambitious climate actions. Coal is to be phased down and subsidies for fossil fuels to be phased out. The pact also calls for a doubling of climate adaptation funding for developing countries by developed countries. This is important. Investment in climate mitigation projects (such as reducing emissions by installing solar power generation) far outweigh adaptation projects which are inherently designed to safeguard the most vulnerable people against the effects of climate change such as droughts, floods and sea level rise. The latter is very much needed to avert climate tragedy amongst the world’s poorest people and an even greater refugee crisis.

In recognition of the enormous role that forests play in regulating our climate, 141 countries representing 90 per cent of the planet’s forests signed the pivotal COP26 Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forests and Land Use, committing to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. Importantly this declaration was signed by Brazil, Russia and China and, for those of us that are working hard to protect Panamanian forests, Panama.

At the conference President Biden of the US pledged to support the restoration of 200 million ha of forest by 2030, while President Duque of Colombia promised to protect 30% of his country’s territory by 2022. A sustainable trade commitment was made that represents 75% of key products that threaten tropical forests such as palm oil and cocoa.

Another interesting initiative is the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People also known as 30×30 , which aims to conserve 30% of the planet (land and sea) by 2030. Currently only 15% of land and 7% of ocean is protected. However, this has come under some scrutiny since indigenous people, arguably, already conserve approximately 25% of the world’s land surface and their role must be acknowledged in this initiative and others.

Although world governments are largely on board with the COP26 climate pledges, their words are empty unless they can put these commitments into practice and to do that the private sector must be involved, especially in western democracies. Pledges by the world’s richest people do make a difference, if that funding can be used well. Recently, Jeff Bezos announced a further $2bn to add to the $1bn pledged earlier for his Earth Fund to help restore nature and transform food systems, as just one example of philanthropy. But this isn’t enough. It is estimated that it will cost $200bn per year up to 2030 to restore terrestrial nature (not oceans). To find this money the private sector must be involved. Industry must change the way it does business and governments must be held to account to push and pull the levers of the economy to provide incentives for this to happen. The soy, beef, palm oil, cocoa industries as well as precious metals and others must be able to make profit by doing the right thing and being a force for good (which is in their interest) while it must be costly if they aren’t. Government and industry have very clear roles in making sure that the planet remains a place that is inhabitable for everyone and ultimately it is up to us as consumers and voters to make sure this happens.

CREA is a small but essential cog in putting the meagre financial resources, committed to nature conservation, to good use. We are working hard to protect the Cocobolo Nature Reserve in Panama, to provide education and awareness of the role that tropical forests play in our lives, no matter where we live, and to provide resources to local communities so that they can preserve their environment and adapt to a rapidly changing world.

We hope that 2022 brings us good news for tropical forests and we hope that you might visit us in Panama at some point.

Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation Comes to Cocobolo (By Teresa Nichta)

We spent two-weeks at Panama’s Cocobolo Nature Reserve, to do a survey of bat species in this tropical hotspot while giving “in the field” workshops to our participants.  Our survey results were impressive and unexpected, recording more than 600 bats of 53 species, more than half the total number known for the entire country. New species were netted nearly every night, including two on our final evening. The common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) and greater fishing bats (Noctilio leporinus) were participant favorites, though an incredible variety of fruit-, nectar-, and insect-eating species were seen. The hardiest of our group often worked till dawn, bringing in a steady stream of species for portrait photos, especially during the first week. By the second week much more time was devoted to training bats to come on call, especially to locations where Merlin could photograph natural behavior, such as catching katydids. During both weeks of the workshops, we encountered periodic rain showers, keeping the normally hot, dry-season temperatures far more comfortable than anticipated. The downside was that there was poor netting results on three nights during the second week. The team hiked every day and netted every night, even in the rain, and set up a triple-high mist net almost every night, both weeks. We shared the forest with some interesting characters, such as a black jaguar, which fortunately left everyone alone, though it likely observed our unusual activities!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three bats were held for training. Merlin trained a hairy big-eared bat (Micronycteris hirsuta) for photography. Within 15 minutes it was flying to his hand on call, rewarded with meal worms. Janell Cannon, the famous author of  Stella Luna, trained a white-throated round-eared bat (Lophostoma silvicolum) to eat from her hand. Her bat has a very calm temperament. Alexis and Amy trained a Niceforo’s big-eared bat (Trinycteris nicefori) for photography, a very sweet and eager gal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We radio tagged a hairy big-eyed bat (Chiroderma vilosum).  Because of unexpected rain in the dry season, combined with rugged terrain, we weren’t able to find it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We caught vampires nearly every night at Cocobolo Nature Reserve because it’s adjacent to a cattle ranch. Vampire bats are able to run and jump from the ground. They have heat sensors in their nose, that help them locate capillary-rich locations to make painless feeding incisions, and they have efficient kidneys that allow them to pass the water from blood as fast as they drink. This enables them to go home with a full protein meal. They are also socially sophisticated, forming long-term “friendships,” sharing meals with others in need, and adopting orphans.  Unfortunately, due to large-scale introduction of domestic animals, such as cattle, their numbers have greatly increased, enabling them to become pests. Consequently, literally millions of beneficial bats in Latin America have been killed simply because they were mistaken for vampires.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to our intrepid workshop participants, we have greatly advanced knowledge of bats in the Cocobolo Nature Reserve, more than doubling the number of bat species known to be present. We’ve also added substantially to MTBC’s bat photo library. We especially thank Michael Roy, founder of CREA: Conservation through Research, Education and Action, and owner of Cocobolo Nature Reserve for hosting us. And to the resident scientists, interns and volunteers, Genny, Matt, Zack, Alex, Francisco, Joel and Abel, who took such good care of us and introduced us to a variety of non-bat wildlife on the reserve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact us to find out more about how you can help our wildlife conservation programs at the Cocobolo Nature Reserve.

Learn more about bats and how you can help at www.MerlinTuttle.org.

My name is Ryan Thompson and I am a rising high school senior at Menlo School. Because I had demonstrated commitment to ecology and sustainability, I was awarded a HAND Foundation grant to study tropical ecosystems in Central America and explore the use of satellite imagery to assist researchers. I was drawn to Cocobolo because of its critical location in the tropical corridor. I was lucky to be able to visit this summer and had an exciting and productive week. I am heading to college next year and hope to continue to pursue environmental studies.

I had an amazing experience at Cocobolo Nature Reserve! I hiked every day in the rainforest with resident scientist Stephane De Greef, where we ran into howler monkeys, tamarin monkeys, white-faced monkeys, tarantulas, an eyelash pit viper, a whip spider and many more cool animals. One day out on the trail, we came across a fer-de-lance, an extremely venomous snake, that was thankfully distracted by digesting a large meal. One night we took a hike at night up the Mamoni River and a friendly river otter swam right over to us. We also saw spiders that could run over the top of the river. The wilderness at Cocobolo is dense and incredibly beautiful and the chance to see many rare and endangered species was awe-inspiring.

Stephane and I had the opportunity to work on a research project where we analyzed satellite imagery to see changes in vegetation through rainy and dry seasons with a software program called QGIS. We were also able to use satellite imagery to begin mapping new trails that Stephane will be using to explore the area over the coming months. Using the software and satellite imagery, we discovered that approximately 23% of the valley inside the Mamoni Watershed area has been deforested. Preserving the local ecosystems is critical to supporting the diversity of wildlife that we experienced on our hikes every day.

Cocobolo’s diverse ecosystems give visitors the opportunity to learn about a multitude of plant and animal species. Given that the Nature Reserve has primary rainforests, secondary rainforests, and cloud forests within it, I was able to learn about the subtle yet important differences between the habitats of organisms living in the region. Cocobolo serves as a safe haven for animals that use this forest area to safely live and cross this narrow area between North and South America.

CREA, the organization that runs Cocobolo, has a mission to conserve this spectacular land in Panama. Much more of the land where Cocobolo is located would have been deforested and made into cattle pastures if not for CREA establishing and maintaining Cocobolo Nature Reserve. CREA does amazing work with local farmers and cattle ranchers to try to encourage them to use techniques that won’t harm the local natural environment. I really appreciate the work of Stephane at Cocobolo and Dr. Michael Roy and the team at CREA to create this truly unique experience. I would love to return to Cocobolo and I strongly encourage others who would like an incredible adventure and an opportunity to see rare species and wild nature to visit the Reserve!

The participation fee for this first BugCamp is 950 USD per person.

Included: airport pickup in Panama City, accommodation in double-occupancy local guesthouse in Panama City, transport to and from Cocobolo, all meals and lodging in the field station. And of course, our unconditional and complete dedication to your daily entertainment and education!

Not included: international airfare to Panama City, travel and health insurance, lunch and dinner in Panama City on day 1, 7 and 8.

If you’re wondering about how to get to Panama, vaccinations and what to pack, we have three great resources on our CREA/Cocobolo website: Travel Tips, Health and Safety and Packing List.  And if you have any question, contact us or send an email to stephane@stephanedegreef.com.

See you soon!

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CREA has been studying Cocobolo’s rich avifauna, both residents and migrants, since 2007. To study the bird populations of Panama, we rely on the following methods:

• mist netting in Cocobolo Nature Reserve, identification, measurement and release;
• early-morning bird walks to identify residents and migrating species;
• bio-acoustics to identify birds by their call.

Climate change and habitat loss are affecting bird populations worldwide, especially migratory species that depend on intact habitat and resources in different parts of the world. Climate change is affecting the timing of the presence of essential food (e.g. insect and fruit) for migratory species, hindering their ability to successfully migrate often thousands of miles across land and ocean.

It is essential to monitor the state of bird populations to know if and which species are being affected. To do this CREA runs a bird banding station at Cocobolo and, in addition to recording resident species, records all migratory species visiting the reserve each winter. The data, when put together over time, will help us to understand how species are changing and which are most vulnerable and need attention.

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Article:
Roy, M.S. and Doss, L.K. Building Migratory Bridges. The Science Teacher: Nov. 56-63 (2007).

Yet another reason to be thrilled about our amazing biodiversity!

Twan Leenders​ from the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History​, just sent us the updated 2017 Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Cocobolo Nature Reserve​, featuring no less than 113 species with gorgeous pictures and tips to identify them!

Get your digital copy from our website at http://www.crea-panama.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Cocobolo-herp-guide-2017-1.pdf