April 6, 2012

A Voice from the Volcanica Central Talamanca Biological Corridor

Fabrice DeClerck, Senior Scientist Agrobiodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Resilience
Bioversity International, Rome, Italy

5:00 A.M. Soon the sun will be up, and here in Costa Rica it’s like flipping on the light switch – one moment its dark, the next its full sun. I roll out of bed to throw on some field clothes, turn the coffee on and head out to meet the crew ready for another day of monitoring the bird diversity found in the Volcanica Central Talamanca Biological Corridor (VCTBC). The landscape encompassed by the corridor includes 114,000 ha of mixed land uses including slightly more than 50% forest, 26% pastures (including the dairy farms that make the famous Turriabla cheese), 9% coffee and smaller extents of sugar cane, a perfect mix for someone like me who enjoys cream and sugar in his morning coffee. The corridor includes the Reventazon valley that splits the Central Volcanica Range to the north, and the Talamanca mountains to the south.

It’s an important landscape in Costa Rica, one that produces much of the country’s vegetables. The cooler temperatures high up on the slopes of the Turrialba volcano are ideal for temperate crops like broccoli, carrots, onions and strawberries. Also, nearly 40% of Costa Rica’s energy demand is met by four dams on the Reventazon. Thousands of tourists from around the globe raft and kayak in the adjacent Pacuare River. And of course, one cannot forget the central role of any biological corridor: to maintain ecological integrity, and to facilitate the movement of wildlife between protected areas, an important role provided by the coffee agroforests in this landscape for species like ocelots.

5:30 A.M. The sun has risen, and the top of the Turrialba Volcano is visible with its trademark white column of steam and gases gently rising. As we set up our mist-nets along one of the live fences in the pasture on the CATIE farm, I pause to reflect on how the concept of biological corridors has evolved here. From the original ideas presented by conservation biologists of linear stretches of vegetation connecting distinct forest elements, this concept has shifted to a much more socio-ecological concept, an “ecoagricultural landscape”, a mixed land use matrix comprised of multiple stakeholders and interests.

Before the dams were built, the Reventazon River was considered one of the world’s best for rafting and was an integral contributor to ecotourism in the valley. In the late 1990’s when the dam was built with little stakeholder involvement, tensions between the conservation, ecotourism, and hydroelectric communities were high. Through the efforts of the biological corridor’s steering committee, however, there is now a platform where the various voices of the community, including the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE), the kayakers, and the farmers, can meet and work together on a shared vision of what this landscape should look like.

Today, it is not uncommon to see farms on the slopes of the volcano proudly bearing signs stating, “My farm participates in the management of the Reventazon watershed”. These farms receive small payments from ICE for soil conservation measures that help to reduce harmful sediment flow to the reservoirs behind the dams. More surprising (and a greater indicator of the Corridor’s success in creating a multi-stakeholder platform) was the collaborative effort between ICE and the kayaking community in last year’s kayak rodeo, where numerous kayaks sported ICE stickers on their boats—unimaginable several years earlier when the first dam on the Reventazon was built.

6:30 A.M. It is time to check the nets. We never know what will end up in a morning’s nets. But we’ve had good results in this live fence, including surprise catches such as the white-ruffed manakin (Corapipo altera), a species of bird dependent on and usually restricted to forests. More than 350 species of birds have been recorded on the CATIE farm, located in the geographic center of the biological corridor. Many of these have been observed in the live fences that we are monitoring today or in the numerous coffee and cacao agroforests scattered across the farm. This was a surprise to us when we started monitoring. Live fences aren’t really good habitat for forest dependent species; however, they crisscross the landscape, often connecting the smaller patches of scattered forest, and are occasionally used by forest dependent species as they establish new territories.

In a sense, these birds depend largely on the actions of cattle ranchers and coffee farmers to maintain trees in pastures or in coffee farms that serve as habitat or smaller scale corridors within the larger corridor. Live fences in particular offer a promising ecoagricultural tool. These fences composed of living trees provide services that are preferred by farmers and conservationists alike. Using a living tree as a fence post assures protection against rot and termites in this tropical environment, thereby increasing the lifespan of the fence.

The shade created by the living foliage of the tree can reduce temperatures by 10° C during the hottest days, an important contributor to animal welfare and milk productivity. Some tree species can be used as sources of fodder for livestock, particularly important as a management tool to reduce the impacts of drought on small farms. Small improvements in live fence management can also make important contributions to their conservation value—changes like ensuring that forest fragments connect to each other, or that pruning is reduced so trees may develop full crowns more attractive to birds on the move. Increasing the number of species and selecting those that provide food for wildlife also enhances the conservation value of live fences.

7:10 A.M. We’ve captured, measured, and banded the manakin caught today, and all thedata are carefully registered in our field computer. We hold him one last time as we prepare to release him, wondering if we will see this individual again. Will this young male be able to find a new forest patch to establish his territory? The data we collected will help us to understand how the agricultural lands of the corridor can be managed to better provide for the conservation needs of its forest biodiversity. But it can also been used to model connectivity in the corridor, informing the steering committee as to priority areas for conservation and where collaboration with the regions farmers is most critical. Of all the features of this landscape, the increased communication and discussion between the stakeholders of the corridor stand out as one of the biggest accomplishments. While chances are low that we will recapture today’s manakin, the odds are looking up in favor of his making it to the next forest patch.

8:30 A.M. The rest of the staff is just now getting to the office starting their workday. The day’s captures have been processed with all their data entered in the computer, the coffee thermos empty. Time to pack up and head back to the office, but already I am thinking two days ahead and wondering what birds we’ll find in the cacao agroforest on Wednesday.

For more information:
The Bird Monitoring Program
The Volcanica Central Talamanca Biological Corridor
Silt of the Earth – University of Idaho news story

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