Dear Wildlife Conservation Community,
We hope this message finds you and your loved ones safe and well. It has been a difficult year for everyone. The disruption in our regular routine has caused many of us to question how we impact our environment while creating the opportunity to re-think how we approach these important issues.
We want to thank all of our team members and donors for enabling us to adapt and make the most of our limited resources and maximize our impact during this difficult time. We simply could not have done it without your support!
We are proud to share with you our accomplishments from this year and excited to start 2021, with our new webpage and exciting programming for the entire year. Our main objective for the next year is to continue to grow our impact while reaching financial sustainability. We have adjusted our spending to allow us to continue our activities under limited resources and are developing new and diverse fundraising strategies to take us into the new year. View our full WCA 2020 Annual Report PDF.
Best wishes to you and your family!
Program Updates
Water Quality Monitoring: We successfully completed 24 weeks of monitoring and analyzed 73 samples of seawater at the Nosara River mouth and two locations at Playa Guiones. We look forward to completing our first year of operation, strengthening collaborations, and launching an ocean-friendly guide and certification process for homes and businesses. Learn more about this project, take a Virtual Tour, view our Youtube Channel, get updates and results on Swim Guide and Instagram Stories.
Nosara Biodiversity Project: Our project page has grown to 2,477 observations of 813 different species by 185 observers, a 140% increase in observations since the project’s establishment! We have also installed 2 new camera traps in the area and are establishing partnerships with hotels and homeowners to install more. Check out our project page to see all of the beautiful photos of species being observed in the area.
Sea Turtle & Marine Biodiversity Monitoring: We’ve established collaborations with CREMA and Allen Coral Atlas to conduct studies on hawksbill sea turtles and marine biodiversity in addition to mapping the seafloor in the marine protected area in 2021. Although our underwater drone stopped working, our partners will be providing in-kind support and equipment in the coming year to complete these projects.
Virtual Learning: The Virtual Field School course was a success, with 3 courses offered and 38 students participating. Additionally, we hosted 12 virtual educational events and have translated our popular Sea Turtle Science Series to Spanish. We will offer more live stream events and courses in English and Spanish in 2021.
Field Experiences: In anticipation of returning to in-person experiences in 2021, we have developed a curriculum for Nosara Explorer Academy, an immersive field course for people of all ages and backgrounds to engage in our day to day activities.
Volunteer Program: We are now offering remote volunteering opportunities. Seven volunteers have contributed 280 hours so far this year developing educational programming and digital outreach materials for our organization.
Sustainable Development: The WCA spearheaded a letter to the Municipality of Nicoya in support of construction regulations signed by 16 organizations and 60 scientists and leaders representing 16 countries. Additionally, we continue to gain political leverage and identify fundraising opportunities for what is now the Ostional-Nosara Sustainability Campus (ON Campus for short). In line with this, we are supporting the certification of Nosara as a Sustainable Tourism Destination and continuing to search for prospects for a land donation. We will be working with MicroMacro Costa Rica to build a sustainable tiny-home model and applied for a grant to make a documentary film.
Your Support Means More Now Than Ever
As many other non-profit organizations and small businesses around the world, we are working hard to keep our organization afloat. We are currently running 9 programs at an average cost of $12,000 per program and we predict that we can raise enough money by our own means to kick-start us off to a good start.
But we will need additional support if we want to extend our activity throughout the entire year. Our work is made possible by your generous contributions!
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