Hi, and welcome to 2016 with the latest news from us here in the Amazonas Region of Ecuador.
It has been a slightly more relaxed month with the ‘seasonal’ festivities in the midst – however, much work has continued.
There has been a large heap of stones (building materials) left for some time on the pathway down to the road – now, thanks to Cyclops the Wonder Horse and his ‘support team’ much of this has now been brought up to the Fundación land for future construction use.
Sightings on the land this month have included many lizards, a calico (false coral) snake, the tamarin monkeys have been around, and regular visitors now are a group of up to four Black-Mandibled Toucans, and also some White-throated toucans. They have been appearing mid- to late-afternoon on a daily basis.
The Black-Mandibled Toucans have been classified as a species vulnerable to extinction, so we are very pleased that they have been spending time in the trees near us and hopefully, we are helping to support their continued existence.
An Opossum (raposa) has been spotted, as well as the Armadillo which lives near the bodega somewhere. The migratory Swainson’s Thrush (a medium-sized thrush) has also been seen.
The Asemblea General (Annual General Meeting) of the Fundación was held this month and I am delighted to be able to report that there is a newly elected team of Glen Thompson, Fausto Muñoz, Peter Archer, Omar Tello, Reynaldo Socola and David Jackson to take responsibility for the Fundación and to support its work (the Equipo Directivo).
Although we do not have a copy of the report in writing, it would appear that the findings of the agency undertaking the demarcation of the land in the area of Canton Mera indicate that the Fundación’s land is just slightly short of the original lines (perhaps half a hectare). ‘On the ground’ it seems that the Fundación has more or less as was originally outlined when the land was bought – however, in reality – this was 37.0 hectares and not 37.5. We await sight of the final report.
Plans are moving ahead to start work on the base of the toilet/shower block soon, subject to our financial resources. We have a location for this and we are looking into the most appropriate waste system – looking into and comparing the ‘dry – toilet’ with examples of septic tank/grey-water processes.
Otherwise, general maintenance has continued around the site, everything is growing (well almost everything) fast and we look forward to continuing the development of the research and animal rescue/release and conservation centre to be.
