Monkeys in Nicaragua

April – July 2018

The tropical-dry forests of Nicaragua are a unique ecosystem, characterized by their extreme variability between wet and dry seasons. The importance of these forests are further emphasized due to the fact that they exist within reserves as fragments of natural habitat within a human-altered landscape of mixed-use human development, and therefore may harbour source populations of threatened species.

I spent the summer of 2018 volunteering in Southwestern Nicaragua, working for the conservation program of Casa Congo, a Canadian non-profit. Coordinated my own project attempting to estimate the populations of three species of monkey (Golden-mantled howler monkey, White-throated capucin monkey, and Geoffrey’s spider monkey) in the nearby wildlife refuge of Rio Escalante-Chacocente, and helped with an ongoing Sea turtle conservation project run in conjunction with MARENA, the Nicaraguan ministry of the Environment. These projects were run with the help of local community members, in an effort to better connect them to the natural systems around them, and to grow interest in stewardship and conservation with the local youth.

In addition to working in the field, I was involved in the day-to-day operations of the organization, and helped to provide content for their social media platforms and website, through photography and storytelling.

To see more about the project, please visit Casa Congo's Website.