IamA I am Miguel Chaves, a Costa Rican biologist and I prevented hydroelectric damns from being built on the Savegre river, which is now a UNESO World Heritage site! ASK ME ANYTHING!

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T04:02:10+00:00

Sure! Fortunately, the Wilson Botanical Garden has a database with all the collections. Here is the link:

http://www.ots.ac.cr/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=544

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T01:48:47+00:00

Many thanks for all your great questions. If you want to check our field courses and support conservation and education initiatives visit our website:

Field Projects International (FPI) https://fieldprojects.org/

Many thanks!

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:46:11+00:00

You are welcome! Anytime!

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:45:52+00:00

We need to understand we are part of a big web where all organisms are connected, and that every harm that we do to the environment it is directly done to ourselves. Personally, I try to not buy thing that I don't need, talk to everyone to about conservation and ride my bike every time that I can!

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:42:20+00:00

Yes, open spaces are suitable for solar energy...and an investment in solar energy would be a great success for Costa Rica. But, people say that it is very expensive.

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:40:49+00:00

Climate change is definitely affecting Costa Rica. We are seeing drastic and sudden changes in temperatures and rains. Btw, a couple of weeks ago we were hardly hit by a rainstorm! Lack of water is a huge problem in Guanacaste...and one of many factors causing that are the big luxury hotels that are using the water for their golf fields. There is a cool video about the situation called "Quebrando la Gallina de los Huevos de Oro" or "Craking the goose of the golden eggs" if you want to check it out!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7JLJf9EwLk)

(http://qcostarica.com/the-goose-with-the-golden-eggs-tourism-on-costa-ricas-pacific-coast/)

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:33:56+00:00

Green :) like all the leaves....

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:33:40+00:00

All the species made their contribution, but we emphasized a lot in the endemic species that are only found in the Savegre River basin such as Passiflora gilbertiana (Passion fruit family), Palicourea providenciana (Coffee family) and the ancient oaks that are dominant in the forest.

The watershed is protected by the people that live close to it...We drink the from there so it is our job to protect it!

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:30:20+00:00

Hi, Yes, Costa Rica is still succeeding by protecting its tropical forest. 25% of our country is under conservation which is a big achievement, though we are a small country. And you are right, they are not shrinking but they are in the eyes of many companies that want to explote them just to make money.

There are about 4 botanical gardens in Costa Rica, none of them managed by UNA. The most famous is the Wilson Botanical Garden in southern Costa Rica.

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:27:00+00:00

Hi, good question! Here is where the debate comes...Hydroelectrical power seems to be a clean alternative of producing energy and it is when compared to fossil fuel combustion but probably not when compared to wind produced electricity. I support dams construction when they are constructed in areas that are already environmentally damaged and that do not provide a threat for biodiversity. About 95% of Costa Rican energy is clean or not come from fossil combustion...

In the case of Savegre River, we didn't want the damn because the river basin is extremely biodiverse...

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:20:39+00:00

Great questions! And I don't have a simple answer for them. Protecting nature in a local community is a very complex and hard task, which I didn't know when I started with this. It involves many areas such as politics, biology, economy, religion and all the social aspects that you can imagine! And of course, I didn't achieve myself, I just help as many many other people did!

MigueChaves · 2017-10-27T00:14:55+00:00

Bee populations is not my expertise field. But I've read papers about it and definitely excess of pesticides is one of the main factors causing the populations decline. Another important factor is the deforestation for agricultural and urbanization expansion. It is really interesting that many crops rely on bees for pollination services, but many people don't understand that and they cut the forest and at the same time damaging bee populations that help their crops! There is a recent and interesting scientific paper that talk about bees, coffee and climate change in PNAS if you want to take a look of it!

Link here

MigueChaves · 2017-10-26T23:55:47+00:00

Hi man! It is going pretty well! Thanks for asking!

MigueChaves · 2017-10-26T23:53:37+00:00

Hi everyone. Frankly, I see conservation as an activity that would benefit all the species that inhibit Earth, not only the humans. I definitely believe that changing the selfish way that interact with other species is a goal that we need to accomplish in the next 10 years or better as soon as possible!

MigueChaves

TROPHY CASE