Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Aviturismo de Ecuador

Last weekend I attended a “Bird Observation and Identification Workshop” at La Reserva Ecológica Manglares Churute, the Reserve I work with. We spent all Saturday sitting through charlas given by a local guide who clearly has an affinity for avian. We went over the anatomy of birds, their scientific names, and the art of bird-watching. Yes, art of bird-watching. Now, when I think of ‘bird-watching’ I picture an older couple who look like they just stepped out of their Floridian condo armed with binoculars, sandals with knee-high socks, a wide-brimmed visor, and a fanny pack ready to get a quick glimpse of their sought-after bird. Not exactly my idea of a good time but to each his or her own. That night we went on a dark trek into the Reserve to get a feel for listening to birds. Unfortunately all we heard were bats (wannabe birds) as we maneuvered our way through the dark paths with our flashlights. We made it back to our tents and I attempted to go to bed early because we had to wake up at 5:00am the next morning.

Gallinazo Rey (Sarcoramphus papa)It took a great effort to get out of my tent before the sun came up because I was unable to sleep due to the sound of the Panamericana traffic and obnoxious laughter from a few of the men who decided to drink Pilsner until 2:00 in the morning. We headed out away from the Panamericana into the Reserve to do some early morning bird-watching because it is the best time of the day to do so. The guide took us through the forest stopping every few feet, perking his ears to the sound of the birds and identifying them simply from hearing their call. He knew the specific bird instantly and was able to tell me a majority of their common names in English. We slowly walked behind him as he held his professional microphone in the air recording the symphony of bird songs and getting excited. His ebullience was contagious. Despite him being quite chuchaqui he was happy as a lark to share his enthusiasm of bird-observation with us.

I do think birds are interesting creatures and their diversity is mind-boggling but what I find most interesting about bird-watching is the bird-watching industry. Ecuadorian institutions such as the Ministerio del Turismo are working toward enticing foreigners from countries such as the U.S. to visit Ecuador by directing their advertisements toward birding enthusiasts. Ecuador is working to be the “Centro de Aviturismo Mundial” which would certainly bring hoards of visitors to not only to partake in the great diversity of avian but also the myriad of flora and fauna that call this tiny country home. Ecuador’s tourism initiative is putting the spotlight more on mainland Ecuador rather than the prized Galapagos Islands. The Coast, Sierra and Amazon regions offer just as much wildlife to gawk at for a fraction of the cost and tourists will also be able to enjoy Ecuador’s cultural diversity while trekking through the country’s many ecological reserves and national parks.

Although ‘birders’ are a niche market for the tourism industry it is a gold mine. Americans love birds. I never stopped to think about this statement as being fact until I began working with tourism in Ecuador. I was told this during an Eco-tourism workshop I attended with fellow NRC eco-turismo volunteers in August and I was told this again during the bird-watching workshop at the Reserve I work with. I decided to do a little investigation using good ol’ trusty Google and I found this to actually be true. The most recent statistics conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2006, birdwatchers contributed $36 billion to the US economy and one fifth (20%) of all Americans are identified as birdwatchers. Americans buy birding books, birding equipment, bird-feeders, and birding tours. We participate in bird-watching competitions, we gloat our ‘observed birds’ online, and we’ve created special bird-watching clubs and organizations. We have bleeding heart for birds; what is the emblematic animal of freedom for our country? Americans will be happy to know that Ecuador offers 1,559 different species of birds, 50 of which are endangered and Ecuador will be happy to know that Americans are willing to spend the money and time to observe them.

So for those of us you who are working or hope to work with tourism initiatives in your communities perhaps Aviturismo is something your community would like to look into.
Expats Birding in Ecuador

Photos and Info of Ecua-birds

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Science and art

Working at the local colegio with teachers and students in the natural sciences classes taught me a lot about the importance of how one teaches something. I remember that some of my best teachers growing up were able to teach me far more by sharing their love of the subject...or by making it at least a little more interesting. In September 2010 I was giving charlas, organizing activities and incorporating more environmental education material into the curriculum along with a science teacher. I found that it didn´t make too much difference in terms of knowledge retention on the part of the average student until I began doing more hands on exercises and mini-labs with them. Of course, by the time I realized this I also realized that the teacher I was working with wasn´t as keen on putting extra hours into lesson planning as I was; not too much changed after I left at the end of the term.

Earlier this summer I was invited back to work at the school. My other project was wrapping up and I began to consider how I might be more effective if I were to return to work with the natural sciences classes. The material being taught hadn´t changed and I was, in all likelihood, bound to encounter the same apathy for the subject. But then I began to wonder how it could be different if students actually cared about what they were learning? Well, I certainly can´t make people care about something but I can spice up their cut-and-dry classes up with something more fun. I proposed doing an art class that aimed to reinforce what was being taught that week in the natural sciences classes. So far I´ve found that there seems to be a lot more participation and interest in what we cover. The kids look forward to my weekly visits and are sure to be in attendance on the days they know I´m coming. As of right now they may not be crazy about having to learn the anatomy of a flower or how the carbon cycle works, but the art class activities that they do has generated a lot more enthusiasm. The overall goal is to help cultivate creativity through hands-on activties related to the environment and knowledge about our natural world.

I typically have two 45 minute blocks that are split up by a short morning recess. For the first part of class I show a presentation and give a short lesson with the aid of a projector. During the second 45 minute block the students do the art project that is associated with the presentation. Last week we covered the theory of evolution as it relates to animal mimicry and camouflage. We showed a series of photos where various insects and amphibians are able to hide themselves or scare off predators using mimicry and then explained how animals have evolved over time to look like other things in order to survive. The students enjoyed trying to identify where or what the animal was.


For the activity portion of the class, the students constructed finger puppet butterflies that were colored and created so that they would blend-in to a drawing of leaves and tree foliage.


I used a software program to take all the color out of a photo so that the kids wouldn´t have to use additional class time having to draw out leaves and trees. If you don´t have a photo program that will do that, you can always go to Crayola.com/colorme to print out a coloring page using a photo that you select. The kids can color it in and then design their butterfly to ¨blend in¨with the colors that they´ve applied to that drawing. You simply cut out a butterfly template on regular paper. You also need to cut small strips of paper that can later be rolled and then glued to the butterfly template, effectively serving as the butterfly´s ¨body¨and the area where the finger holds up the puppet.

This is just an example of one activity that we´ve done. I try to get as much input from the teacher as I can for future art classes. If any of you have suggestions or ideas for activities that you´ve found to be particularly successful, I´d love to hear them.