Experiencing the Change: Exploring Monteverde.

"Are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?" 

"Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world." -Mary Oliver 

After one week living on the Monteverde campus, we have seen and experienced many things, hummingbirds, snakes, sloths, butterflies, bats, etc. We have visited many of the tourist locations, the Orchid Garden, Bat Jungle, Cloud Forest Reserve, hiked the Sendero Pacifico, Hummingbird garden and of course, the Megasuper for snacks! 

As we are taking pictures and enjoying our surroundings it is also important to remember why we are here. Did we bring recyclable bags to the store? How much plastic are we wasting on our bag of chips? Are we taking beautiful pictures and not thinking about how we can protect these places for future generations? We met with the Monteverde Conservation League and CORCLIMA and discusses how adaptation and mitigation efforts are affecting this area. We discussed many creative mitigation techniques like adding more sidewalks and bike paths, composting toilets, and waste management as well as adaptations for a small area like our campus by having a community garden, reforestation efforts, responsible cattle owneership and more. 

All of the beautiful animals and kind people we have met here in Monteverde are facing new challenges for survival due to Climate Change. The changes are seen in droughts, storms, heat waves, sea levels rising, and all of these changes directly harm the animals and people who live here. During these past few days all of the students have been collecting information and working toward their end of the course proposal of a mitigation strategie that will be a positive impact here on campus, stay tuned! 

https://youtu.be/1ANAC4cJTLs