Puede descargar el documento en la barra inferior del visor

Our Mission: MCHF advances the conservation and appreciation of forest, fish and wildlife resources by applying financial resources to the priorities of the Missouri Department of Conservation in collaboration with donors and other partners.

Access to the reserve is only possible via a legal right-of-way that crosses several privately owned properties. Reaching the protected area requires walking several kilometers through forested landscapes that are both breathtaking and ecologically rich. For those of us dedicated to conservation, this journey is always an opportunity to reconnect with the land we work to protect.

We departed early in the morning to maximize daylight hours and carried the materials needed for the planned improvements. Upon entering the access road, we noticed something unusual: the path was wider than normal and showed fresh tractor tire marks. While concerning, we continued forward.

Soon after, the reason became evident. Along the road, we found large logs from commercially valuable tree species, freshly cut and left in place, ready to be chained and transported for logging.

This discovery was deeply troubling. Deforestation and the resulting degradation of forest habitats remain among the most serious threats to Costa Rica’s biodiversity. These activities undermine ecosystem integrity, disrupt water regulation, and accelerate biodiversity loss driven by human pressure.

As we continued, we identified the source of the timber: mature, large-canopy trees that had been felled on a neighboring property. The damage extended beyond tree removal, including the clearing of forest areas to create access tracks for heavy machinery, further fragmenting the ecosystem.

Although this logging did not take place within our reserve boundaries, it served as a stark reminder of the constant pressure facing Costa Rica’s forests. Despite existing environmental laws and forest protection policies, enforcement is often insufficient to prevent habitat loss at the local level.

This is why private conservation initiatives are critical. Organizations like the Cerúlea Environmental Association work directly on the ground to protect remaining forest cover, maintain ecological connectivity, and serve as a buffer against expanding deforestation.

Support from international donors enables us to:

• Secure and manage private conservation lands

• Monitor forest health and human pressures

• Restore degraded areas

• Strengthen local conservation capacity

Together, we can ensure that Costa Rica’s forests continue to provide refuge for biodiversity and essential ecosystem services for generations to come.

The renowned scientist and naturalist Edward O. Wilson beautifully wrote: "Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive, and even spiritual satisfaction." This phrase concretely reinforces the idea that humans are born with a strong emotional affiliation towards other living organisms, a concept known as biophilia. Who hasn't been enchanted by watching a brilliant hummingbird sip nectar from a flower? Or by observing the intricate patterns on a butterfly's wings? However, our current way of living has limited our experience and interaction with the natural world, triggering a collective ignorance of our surroundings.

When we stop naming nature, we also stop seeing it. How many of us can recognize more than five species of native trees in our community? How many of us have the opportunity to contemplate nature daily? How many natural spectacles occur daily before our senses, yet we miss them because our senses seem to be asleep? Many of us have forgotten what it means to be in contact with the living world.

Environmental education and bioliteracy are powerful tools to combat the monster of misinformation and disconnection we currently have with the natural world. Through field experience and access to information, children, youngsters, and adults discover a complex, wonderful, and fascinating world that sparks wonder, curiosity and imagination, making visible the fact that humanity's wellbeing directly depends on a healthy planet. To know nature is, ultimately, to know ourselves.

At Cerúlea we have incorporated these ideas as part of the habitat improvement efforts of the Corredor Azul (Blue Corridor), where, —besides reproducing our own native trees for reforestation and ecological restoration—we have actively been working on a environmental education program with different communities of Siquirres and Guácimo, Limón, Costa Rica. This education process includes a wide variety of activities that help to promote active learning, participation, dialogue, and critical reflection. The activities include nature journaling, guided nature walks, storytelling, planting native trees on properties allied to the project and beautifying schools using native plants.

Every time these educational sessions are held, we are amazed by the excitement and interest the children show when learning and exploring nature with us. Through these activities, we expect that in a few years, many of the trees being planted today will grow and become an important teaching resource for various subjects, such as science, mathematics, and arts. And just like trees, we hope that many of these children will form part of the new generation of nature ambassadors that the world is really needing.

On July 11th, 2025, I had the privilege of experiencing my first dawn chorus at the Cerúlea Nature Reserve headquarters. Although we had visited the reserve on several occasions, it was from July 10 to 13 that we were able to camp for the first time in the heart of Cerúlea and carry out various tasks of exploration, maintenance, and documentation of different organisms.

The night of July 10th was filled with the sounds of nocturnal birds such as the Great Potoo, Crested Owl, Mottled Owl, and Common Pauraque, which announced their presence at different times during a cloudy night. Ernesto Carman and I took the opportunity to explore two streams in search of amphibians. It was supposed to be a quick walk after dinner, because it had been an exhausting day walking with heavy loads for several kilometers to the reserve, but you know how these things go... In the end, we ended up exploring ravines and forests for several hours and found a great diversity of frogs, among which six species of glass frogs stand out, such as Teratohyla spinosa, Sachatamia albomaculata, and Sachatamia ilex, as well as the locally rare and restricted Hyloscirtus palmeri and the beautiful salamander Bolitoglossa colonea, which is a regional endemic species (found only in Costa Rica and Panama).

After three hours of surprisingly restful sleep at the camp, I was awakened at 4:45 a.m. by a noisy Collared Forest Falcon that began vocalizing not far from us, followed two minutes later by the unmistakable howls of Mantled Howler Monkeys and a chorus of at least six Rufous Motmots that dominated the soundscape for several minutes. At 4:55 a.m., Northern Barred Woodcreepers began their loud, clear whistles, followed by a Barred Forest Falcon—the second species of forest falcon present that morning! The minutes passed and new species joined the beautiful morning orchestra that unfolds in the natural amphitheater that we proudly and somewhat boldly call our reserve. Here are the members of the orchestra that began at 5:00 a.m., in order of appearance: Broad-billed Motmot, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Black-crowned Antshrike, Plain-brown Woodcreeper, Brown Jay, Great Tinamou, Yellow-throated & Keel-billed Toucans, Short-billed Pigeon, Gartered Trogon. In addition, there were some small canopy birds that began to vocalize high in the surrounding trees, such as Lesser Greenlets, Mistletoe Tyrannulets, Black-capped Pygmy Tyrant, Brown-capped Tyrannulet, Olive-backed Euphonia, Shining Honeycreeper, Rufous-winged Tanagers, and Golden-hooded Tanagers.

There's nothing like the unparalleled sensation of opening your senses and letting nature's restorative energy do its work. If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it! In the sky, I began to hear the loud flapping sound of Montezuma Oropendolas flying westward, one after another, and on the nearby mountain, Mealy Amazons were noisily strolling around, as were the smaller and more restless, Brown-hooded Parrots. Meanwhile, in the dark undergrowth, the sweet sounds of Blue-black Grosbeaks and White-breasted Wood-wrens stood out, contrasting with the sound of the wings of a White-collared Manakin flying low to feed on a Heliconia pogonatha at the edge of the forest.

Suddenly, I heard hoarse, harsh and resonant sounds that seemed to be gradually getting closer. It could only be the wonderful Great Green Macaws. One of the largest members of the Psittacidae family on the continent, and sadly considered critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 adult individuals in the world. My excitement became apparent when I saw 21 individuals in front of me coming to eat from a spectacular tree locally known as Campano or Titor (Sacoglottis trichogyna), which was laden with fruit. The morning light illuminated the bright feathers of these enormous birds as they wandered among the treetops feeding on the fruit. My peace was interrupted by the fact that I did not have my camera nearby, so I ran out to get it so I could immortalize this moment. This observation means that we have officially confirmed the presence of trees critical to the Great Green Macaw in our reserve. This is cause for celebration!

The Campano is a slow-growing tree that can exceed 35 m in height and is distributed from Nicaragua to Panama. Although the tree species most commonly associated with the Great Green Macaw is the famous Tonka bean tree (Dipteryx oleifera), this tree species doesn't naturally occur at the elevation of our reserve. Therefore, finding Campano trees is reassuring, as observations by various authors have determined that when Tonka bean tree fruits are scarce, the Macaws choose to consume Campano fruits.

Due to the characteristics of the wood, Campano trees have been victims of overexploitation, which is why they are currently considered an endangered species, and their felling is completely prohibited. For this reason, from now on we will intensify our search for more adult Campano trees and pay close attention to their phenology, as they will be an important source of seeds for our efforts to reproduce species of importance to the local fauna.

With my spirit filled and inspired by this optimistic experience, I ended my morning walk by returning to camp to write in my field notebook, review my photographs, and then continue with the day's work.

There is much to be done, but perseverance is the way forward.

I wrote this little verse in my field notebook a couple of weeks ago, while walking through the mature forest of the Cerúlea Nature Reserve with the intention of checking the camera traps, as part of our wildlife monitoring program, when suddenly I observed a majestic, large damselfly wandering through the darkness of the forest and then, in a fraction of a second, propelling itself toward a spider web and feeding on its owner.

But let's go back in time, specifically to June 18, 2025, at 9:17 a.m., because I want to tell you more about this damselfly species.

On a sunny morning, Ernesto Carman and I were documenting epiphytic plants growing on an old fallen tree, which had left a clearing in the middle of the dark forest. Suddenly, we noticed a male Blue-winged Helicopter (Megaloprepus caerulatus) flying close to our heads. How could we not marvel at seeing one of the world's largest damselflies so close up? The slow and delicate flight of these enormous insects is a spectacle: the colored tips of their wings produce a unique visual effect, as if they were spinning completely, resembling the blades of a helicopter.

Minutes after rejoicing at that first individual, we began to observe two, then three, and finally six specimens in the same place. “What's going on here?” we wondered. And of course, it didn't take us long to begin formulating our first hypotheses.
As we approached the main trunk of the fallen tree, we discovered a cavity measuring about 15 × 20 cm, where a male had established his territory and was actively defending it from the other five that were trying to approach it. Every time an intruder approached, he confronted it in direct flight; he even chased it several meters up, until it was out of sight, then returned and perched elegantly in the vegetation near his cavity, making short visits to the edge of it.

After several minutes of observation, a smaller individual with a different wing pattern approached about 50 cm from the cavity. It was a female! Unlike what we had seen before, the male flew around her several times and then flew close to the cavity, as if “showing it to her.” After this display, the female landed briefly on a Clusia sp. plant, at our height. Then the male took her and they began to copulate. Together, they flew to a higher perch, about three meters above the ground, where they remained for a long time.

We had to continue with our work, so we were unable to witness the next phase in this couple's

story. However, eleven days later, I returned to the same spot with Moisés Mata, and to our surprise, we found the territory still active. There, we were fortunate enough to observe a female perched on the edge of a larger cavity, which contained rainwater, in the same fallen tree, laying her eggs at the water's edge, followed by the male, who seemed to be guarding the area.

Examples like this, featuring such a fascinating species, remind us that death is a fundamental part of the dynamics of ecosystems. An old giant of the forest falling and dying is critical to the creation of unique habitats and microhabitats that are indispensable for a wide variety of organisms that depend on them for their survival.

However, setting up this camp after the hike into the reserve and in the rain can be a bit cumbersome and we wanted to make our visits more comfortable, so we made plans to build a covered platform.

Our plans had to involve an important piece of logistics: transporting all the heavy materials along the rutted road to the reserve. Asking around the nearby village we found Alejo, who owns a tractor and was willing to do the job, but there was a caveat: we needed at least one full day with no rain for him to make it in and back out. This does not sound like much, but in the Caribbean foothills of Costa Rica daily rains are not uncommon. With poor cel phone coverage all we knew from Alejo was "we have to wait and see how the weather is", which was a bit disappointing, but mid-morning the following day, the distant sound of a tractor getting closer could not have made us happier!

We immediately got to work making our original design come to life and constructed the platform at our site which we chose specifically because the view faces the forest where a mixed species flock of birds moves back and forth throughout the day and Great Green Macaws fly overhead. By the end of the third day we finished-up the final details and feeling extremely fulfilled we had accomplished our goal, we packed up camp and made the hike back out.

Our team has begun its preparation for the visit, armed with binoculars, cameras and most important of all, extended experience with Cerulean Warbler behavior and identification to be able to pick this species out from the many other birds that compose the mixed species flocks moving through the high canopy.

Stay tuned for updates as we set up camp at the Cerúlea Nature Reserve and share our findings!

We generate knowledge about Neotropical biodiversity and contribute to its conservation, in order to achieve a balance between human welfare and nature. By promoting the development of new talents and through collective learning, we inspire sustainable change for the integral protection of the natural world.

As we grow we hope to engage broader and younger demographics to reach and protect more wildlife.