Jalova Monthly Achievement Report December 2016

Wrapping Up Another Year

Objective
One of GVI Jalovas most important objectives is to work with our partners to gain accurate and informative data.
This means that all the data we have collected in our surveys needs to be analysed regularly and in the long term.
Summary
Staff and volunteers have all enjoyed participating in surveys and collecting data over the past month. We have
made some exciting new discoveries and seen many new developments in the work that we do in Tortuguero
National Park. We would also like to say thank you to every staff and volunteer that has contributed to our work, in
both the past year, and the work that has gone into the much anticipated 6 year reports.
Report
At the end of the year all of the projects are closed for Christmas. This means that all the data collected in the
previous 6 months needs to be analysed and reported. This year was extra special as the first 6 year reports were
also written for the bird and biodiversity projects. This includes analysis of all the project data collected over the
entirety of GVI Jalova's existence!
In December we were delighted to
find that the last of our Green and
Hawksbill turtle nests hatched
successfully. There was a large
number of excavations carried out
by our staff and volunteers, and
we were thrilled to find that
Hurricane Otto had not affected
our remaining nests. We not only
found our marked nests to be
successful but were also thrilled to
save hundreds of explosions of
babies from vultures and ants.
Giving turtles the best chance in
life is what we aim to achieve.
The Jaguar project closed successfully, with a huge effort from the whole Jalova team. After two attempts finally all
of the cameras were removed or replaced ready for the Christmas period. No small task! We hope that the data we
collected proved useful to our partners at Coastal Jaguar Conservation. We await the excitement of next year with
anticipation.

The forest biodiversity project ended 2016 with a 6 year report

that showed some fascinating discoveries. Not only have 24 of
the most endangered species found in Tortuguero increased in
sightings year on year, but the Central American Spider Monkey
has become one of our most frequently sighted animals. As a
species listed on the IUCN red list this is an incredibly exciting
development. We are thrilled with this positive outlook laid out
by the 6 year report and we hope that this work continues to
show similar developments in the future.
The canal bird project again had a successful month with a total
of 8 surveys. The Bat Falcon and the Semiplumbeous Hawk were
sighted along the canals for the first time on one of our surveys
which is an interesting development. The 6 year report for the
project was also submitted, giving a collection and analysis of all
the important bird data gathered by GVI over the last 6 years.
We sadly had to say thank you and good luck to our Bird project
leader Edwin Vaca and our Jaguar and Turtle project leader
Stephanie Wilmott. However, we are thrilled to welcome our
new Jaguar project leader Danny Guy and bird project leader
Thijs Claess.
By Grace Walburn and Georgina Westwood, Interns, Jalova Hub.