Nicaragua - iNaturalist World Tour
We're in Nicaragua for the 68th stop on the iNaturalist World Tour! @jmmaes is the top observer. Based near the capital of Managua, @jmmaes is focusing on Nicaragua's insects and building a website dedicated to Nicaragua's biodiversity. Several other top observers such as @cmtercero and @apapachoa are also based near Managua. To the north, @aesbiologist was a Peace Corps volunteer in Jinotega focusing on Environmental Education and also involved in the Biodiversity Group. @dovyeon has observations clustered on the island of Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua. @richardmonteverdense, raised across the southern border in Monteverde, Costa Rica, has many observations along the Nicaragua side of this border. @alvaroalvaradomontealto is another neighbor from Costa Rica with many observations in the Nicaraguan city of Buenos Aires south of Managua.
The number of observations per month jumped up in April of 2017 when @jmmaes became involved in iNaturalist. But the rate has climbed since then, notably passing 800 observations per month for the first time July of this year.
@jmmaes is the top identifier as well as the top observer in Nicaragua. Not surprisingly he also leads in insects which is the category with the most observations. @johnascher, another insect specialist, is the second to identifier. @oliverkomar and @richardmonteverdense have contributed their local expertise from nearby Honduras and Costa Rica respectively as top identifiers and also lead in birds and plants. @johngsalamander leads in herps. @dovyeon is another top identifier and top observer.
What can we do to get more people in Nicaragua involved in iNaturalist? Please share your thoughts below or on this forum thread
@jmmaes @cmtercero @aesbiologist @apapachoa @dovyeon @richardmonteverdense @alvaroalvaradomontealto @johnascher @oliverkomar @johngsalamander
We’ll be back tomorrow in Slovakia!
Comments
You omitted mention of the top identifier in the Other category - congratulations!
ha thanks - thats probably from all my new world crustacean IDs
Apapachoa es una organización que trabaja fomentando la educación ambiental en comunidades rurales de El Crucero, Managua. Somos conscientes de alta significancia que ha adquirido inaturalist para la identificación de la biodiversidad mundial.
En nuestros programas de educación ambiental promovemos el uso de inaturalist para la identificación de todo tipo de especies. Hace pocos meses creamos el Proyecto Biota de la Reserva El Bajo, Nicaragua con 24 observadores quien hasta el momento junta más de 1,200 observaciones de diferentes Reinos. Resulta muy grato encontrarnos entre los mayores observadores del país, con todo el entusiasmo esperamos seguir contribuyendo en la identificación de la biodiversidad para la conservación de nuestro patrimonio natural. ¡Saludos, y gracias a todos!
Les comento; soy Nicaragüense del Municipio de Buenos Aires, Rivas, por razones laborales resido en Bribri, Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica.
Espero en Dios seguir contribuyendo con la mejor red global dedicada a la observación, un abrazo para todos.
¡Muchas gracias!
Thank you! I tried to encourage iNaturalist use in Nicaragua, especially with reserves. Unfortunately, I'm no longer there, and I miss the biodiversity very much.
I think nature reserves (public and private) would be a good focal point - especially the guides, who often take photos anyway, and who can encourage visitors to use iNat. And maybe some signage at the reserves with references to iNat. Also, lots of researchers/experts go to the reserves as well as other enthusiasts that might be very willing to submit photos.
I encouraged a nature reserve guide in Nicaragua to submit to iNat (even provided a camera with GPS) and later was disappointed to find that one of his bird photos (his specialty) was deleted by iNat because it wasn't known to occur there (and maybe because he was new to iNat). I totally trust him, and didn't find out until quite a bit after the fact that his photo had been deleted. He continues to take photos but doesn't submit them to iNat.
I have contact information for various Nicaraguan reserves (private and some public ones) if you are interested.
I'm creating my own biodiversity in "my" backyard in Austin, Texas now - we are transforming the backyard into a pollinator garden, and we watch (and photograph) how much change has occured - more every day. In Nicaragua I was especially focused on native bees, and am continuing that interest in Austin, learning more about what is here and planting their favorites. There are lots of iNat observations in Texas - as I become more established here, I plan to work to increase posting of native bees, etc.
THANKS so much for all your work!
Of course I'm interested!
I will gladly promote iNaturalist within my spheres of influence in both Nicaragua and Costa Rica, among others.
I wish you success and many blessings in your projects, here I am left to the orders of all of you and of all our appreciable community.
A big hug for everyone.
@alvaroalvaradomontealto Big hugs to you, too! I miss Central America!
Thank you to all of the great observers, identifiers, and evangelists supporting Nicaragua!
@aesbiologist you said: "I encouraged a nature reserve guide in Nicaragua to submit to iNat (even provided a camera with GPS) and later was disappointed to find that one of his bird photos (his specialty) was deleted by iNat because it wasn't known to occur there (and maybe because he was new to iNat). "
For what it's worth, I think there may be a misunderstanding with the guide because iNaturalist does not delete users' content without consent (unless there are egregious violations). It may have been identified as something else by the community, or flagged as incorrect location or captive in the Data Quality Assessment, but staff would not delete it (and curators could not). Hope that helps.
Thanks! I'll try again to encourage him to submit images.
BTW, I'm even more excited about iNat now than when I started (2011 or 12?) - there is so much improvement in speed of loading, IDing, etc. Thanks for all you have done to help. You have always been very helpful.
Anita
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