Poetry in the Estuary; Fish census; Workshop for volunteers; Climate change conference; CAC meeting; Newspaper article on oysters; License plate

Photos: Poetry in the Estuary; Estuary Guardians monitoring event; recruitment workshop for new volunteers.

Update: October 29 to November 18, 2011

Poetry in the Estuary Workshop, ample news coverage: On November 15, 2011, our organization, in alliance with the Salón Literario Libro América, began a series of workshops on the bodies of water of our ecosystem. This initiative is part of our ecological literacy campaign, and obtained ample media coverage, including TV, newspaper and radio interviews, as follow:

El Nuevo Día:

http://www.elnuevodia.com/poesiaenelestuario-1120493.html

Estuario TV:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Estuarinos?blend=1&ob=5#p/u/7/5dF1RVr00-o

Atabey Magazine:

http://revistaatabey.com/blog/2011/11/07/la-escritura-creativa-como-arma-de-proteccion-ambiental/

Prensa Comunitaria:

http://prensacomunitaria.com/ambiente

Junte Ambiental:

http://junteambiental.com/eventos/detalle/1458

The SJBEP performs sub-aquatic cleanup and visual fish census in our Condado Lagoon artificial reef trail: On October 26, 2011, the SJBEP led an underwater cleanup and fish population census with members of the 4-H Club of Cataño. Twenty-eight 4-H volunteers participated in this activity. Different tasks were assigned according to the age and experiences of each participant. More than 50 pounds of aquatic debris were removed and 24 species of tropical fish identified, including the invasive lionfish.

New series of workshops to recruit volunteers; Univisión interviews staff: On November 2, 9, and 17, the SJBEP offered environmental restoration, education, and water quality monitoring workshops for new volunteers. We were able to recruit 30 new volunteers for our projects. We want to thank all our volunteers for their exceptional work in support of the restoration of our urban ecosystem.

Susan Soltero from Univision helped us to spread the word through TV interviews with Javier Laureano and Jorge Bauzá on November 15 and 17 for the morning (“Tu Mañana”) and noon versions of her environmental and weather segments.

Active participation of the SJBEP in the Climate Change Caribbean Conference: Members of the staff of the SJBEP attended the “Climate Change in the Caribbean 2011: Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands Conference” held November 15 and 16, 2011, at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico School of Law. Dr. Jorge Bauzá participated as group discussion facilitator for the Marine and Coastal Ecology Concurrent Session “Impact to Wetlands.”

New scientific article published in El Nuevo Día about our oyster restoration project: On November 9, 2011, an article entitled: “Native oyster: more than a delicacy,” written by our Scientific Advisor, Dr. Jorge Bauzá, was published in the El Nuevo Día newspaper. This major media outlet of Puerto Rico has a weekly circulation of more than 1.7 million readers.

The article describes our community-based native oyster restoration and water quality project in the Condado Lagoon. The objective of this project is to transplant mangrove oysters (Crassostrea rhizophorae) and flat tree oysters (Isognomon alatus) into the Condado Lagoon in order to improve the water quality of the system and foster educational/outreach activities.

To read the article please go to the following link:

http://www.elnuevodia.com/losostiones:masqueunsimplemanjar-1113368.html

CAC meeting, the first step in the design of our annual Work Plan: As agreed last year with the members of the committee, we are organizing our Citizens Advisory Committee meetings among the participants’ facilities. On November 16, 2011, we met at Enlace del Caño Martín Peña public corporation. We convened this key advisory group as the first step in the design of our annual Work Plan. Community leaders shared with us their concerns and needs, which we will convey to our Board of Directors, and which will take a central role in the discussions of our budget and work plan design.

Key presentation to the Island’s auto distributors: As part of our special license plate launching campaign, Javier Laureano made a presentation on November 18, 2011, to all the auto distributors of the Island. The business representatives were very enthusiastic about our new license plate and promised to buy it for their dealers across Puerto Rico. The presentation took place in the office of the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Public Works.

Another Estuary’s Cinema: On November 13, 2011, we presented another screening of our Estuary’s Cinema at the Condado Lagoon. We want to thank all the public that is attending the activity every second and fourth Saturday of the month, as well as EPA and the Twentieth Century Fox corporation for their support.