Photographs taken by elementary students visiting the Children's Eternal Rainforest

Laurie and Rachel in Panama 2009

Introducing our new President, Laurie Waller, pictured on the left with the late Rachel Crandell hiking in a rainforest. Laurie has a background in non-profit program development, marketing and studio art. She also helped develop an award-winning environmental education program. You can reach her at 314-941-1257 or info@mclus.org.

To the Men Who Courageously Protect the Forest: A Special Tribute on Father’s Day

It takes strength, courage and watchful care to guard and maintain the 54,000 acres of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Stewardship demands constant vigilance. These men, both guards and maintenance workers, log long hours under rigorous conditions to stay ahead of those who would strip this pristine forest of its flora and fauna. A constant threat to the animals and plants are the bush meat hunters and collectors of rare species.

Only five guards monitor the entire forest area, and salaries for three of them are paid directly because of MCLUS donor generosity. Without this most basic stewardship the forest could soon lose its large mammals, rare orchids and plants, and many other species.

More jobs for people who live in the local communities would provide alternatives to money made from illegal poaching in the forest. The long term objective of both MCL and MCLUS is a consistent environmental education program for people who live around the forest.

Guards and Maintenance Workers Assist Valuable Research

MCL park guards and its maintenance workers participate in research projects that the MCL facilitates in the reserve. The MCL has teamed up with Chester Zoo located in Manchester, England to collect more information about the Green-eyed frog’s natural history as well as determine if the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) is connected with its sudden disappearance.

The Green-eyed frog (Lithobates vibicaria) is a species thought to be extinct and was recently rediscovered in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest.

Park guard Minor Elizondo and maintenance worker Edwin Mendez collect skin swabs from a juvenile Green-eyed frog in an isolated area of the reserve.

Correction

We sincerely regret the photographic errors in the most recent MCLUS Newsletter (May 2010). Thanks to all of you who caught the errors and brought them to our attention! The following photos are ones which should have been in the article on bird species that migrate between the Children’s Eternal Rainforest and North America. We have also posted the corrections on our website in our E-Newsletter archives (http://mclus.org/mclus-may-2010-newsletter-gulf-oil-spill-shows-great-need-for-protected-habitat/).

Look for new 2011 Eco Trip details in upcoming newsletters!

Migratory birds from the Children’s Eternal Rainforest are a shared delight

With over 850 species, the abundance of bird life in Costa Rica is legendary. For the past several weeks, beautiful birds from the Children’s Eternal Rainforest in Costa Rica have returned to North American back yards, woodlands and waterways.

The Monteverde area , the mountainous region of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, is known for its high biodiversity. It has over 400 bird species and 91 of those species (21%), are long distance migratory birds which head north to have their young. The Children’s Eternal Rainforest hosts many migratory bird species such as the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Golden-winged Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo and Turkey Vulture.

Lively neo-tropical migrants are sighted by students in Mary Jane Hoff’s ornithology class at Principia College (Elsah, Illinois). Dr. Tom Fuller, an avid birder (front) often joins the early morning class. He took the following photos of bird species which live in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest and which he has seen in Elsah, Illinois (from left to right: Eastern Kingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Northern Parula).

Announcing the Rachel Crandell Ambassador Scholarship Program

With generous sponsorship from Diane and Monte Powell, one student from Principia Lower School will have the opportunity to travel to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest this summer.

The late Rachel Crandell taught for 20 years at Principia Lower School and for several years engaged classes in the St. Louis area and around the country in fundraiser competitions to ‘win’ a student from their class a free trip to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest.  In honor of Rachel and her love for the child-like spirit, MCLUS renewed the Ambassador Scholarship Program at The Principia School this year with plans to expand it to other schools in the St. Louis area in 2011.

In expressing their support, Monte said that he and Diane see the scholarship program and trip as a great way “to expand young people’s appreciation and understanding of the natural world.”

This year’s student winner, fifth grader Emma Sammuli, participated in an essay contest and was selected by a panel of judges from the MCLUS board.  Emma will share her trip to the forest with peers and have the opportunity to join the Forever Forest Group.  The Forever Forest Group is an example of how kids working together can sustain their enthusiasm for outreach and multiply their success.  Next year MCLUS will offer three scholarships.  Teachers in the St. Louis area who attended the rainforest workshop last summer at the Missouri Botanical Garden are invited to enroll their class.  Contact Cindy Waller at 314-941-1257 or info@mclus.org for more information!

Rachel Crandell, late MCLUS President, with three student ambassadors in 2004.

Click here to make a donation to help support the Rachel Crandell Ambassador Scholarship Program

Thank you for all you do in support of MCLUS and the forest!

Bob Seawick wrote this piece after visiting the Children’s Eternal Rainforest in Costa Rica and wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!

 

 Rainforest Cathedral [11:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (36)

If you like this and would like to support Bob, you can purchase the entire album here: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobseawick

The Baird’s tapir is a highly symbolic animal for the Monteverde Conservation League (MCL) in Costa Rica and for MCLUS. It is the largest mammal in Cost Rica-about three times heavier then a jaguar! It symbolizes large mammals that need huge, undisturbed territory to survive. The Baird’s tapir was chosen to be the Monteverde Conservation League’s graphic logo because the Children’s Eternal Rainforest’s pristine habitat area is what is needed to preserve the tapir and other large mammal species. As we continue to expand and protect the preserve we increase the chances that populations of these large mammals will survive.

Study to Document Mammal Populations in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest

The tapir is one of many mammals that are part of a long-term study to track the repopulation of mammals in the “Protected Zone of Monteverde,” which includes the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, owned and protected by the Monteverde Conservation League and the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. In 2000, the populations of paca, peccary, tapir, mountain lion (puma), and jaguar were estimated through tracking. During the study, maintenance staff, park guards, other employees, and volunteers of both organizations walked three kilometer transects in the reserves once every month, looking for the footprints of the mammals included in the study. Molds were taken of the footprints found within the transects using dental plaster (photos above). The study’s participants made observations of any additional prints found. Starting again in July 2009, the study began to collect new data, and upon completion of one year will compare the results to the data collected in 2000.

Student ambassadors from 2008 trip to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest sit on statues of mama and baby tapir, outside of the Monteverde Conservation League office.

Fascinating Tapir Facts
…from the book Mammals of Costa Rica, by Mark Wainwright (pages 372-375)

• tapir hides are 1.5 inches thick!
• they are ~6.5 feet tall and weigh ~550 lb.
• they live in areas that have cover, few people, and often near water
• they can dive under water for 15-30 seconds and walk along the river bottom with their head above water
• they spend most of their time foraging through understory, eating plants along the way
• the young are reddish brown with white spots or streaks (camouflage for light patterns on the forest floor)
• they are rare outside of protected areas, with possible only a few hundred in Costa Rica.

Tea Fundraiser a Success!

Tom Newmark with co-hostesses (from left to right) Carol Teicher, Vangie Swan, DiAnne Drake and interim executive director, Laurie Waller

On February 7, 2010 a gathering of 70 people joined together in the St. Louis home of DiAnne Drake, a summer 2009 Children’s Eternal Rainforest trip participant. She was inspired by the idea to have a tea in memory of Rachel Crandell, former MCLUS President. Co-hostesses, Vangie Swan and Carol Teicher, who traveled on the same trip to the forest, served many cups of tea and a delicious array of home baked goods. Current interim executive director, Laurie Waller, told the story of Rachel’s dedication and how it carries on through the many hands sharing in the work. Tom Newmark, MCLUS board member, shared his commitment to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest and the importance of its continued expansion and protection.

Tom Newmark, CEO of New Chapter and MCLUS board member shares his adventures in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest and talks about its ecological importance.

People who were not able to attend the memorial service appreciated the sense of ‘closure’ that the event brought and at the same time a sense of ‘opening’ into a new view of faces and friends. A total of over $7,000 was raised, when donations were matched by an anonymous gift. In addition a number of donations were made through sale of the cards made by the Forever Forest Group kids and the book The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure, co-authored by Kristin Pratt-Serafini and Rachel Crandell.

Fresh puma tracks

Donate today for the mammals!
Please click here to donate online today or send a check to:
MCLUS
242 Old Sulphur Springs Road
Manchester, MO 63021

Your gift is greatly appreciated!
For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Monteverde Conservation League US is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

“Each day has been full and I am bursting with news to share in more detail. However, the main thing is that MCLUS’ contributions DO make a difference to the BEN. It is truly significant and much appreciated by all here.”

February 2010 Newsletter:
Interim Executive Director Gives Dynamic Report from Field Visit to Costa Rica

The Interim Executive Director of the Monteverde Conservation League U.S. (MCLUS), Laurie Waller, recently returned from a trip to Costa Rica where she attended the Monteverde Conservation League (MCL) Annual Assembly meeting, affirmed a continued strong partnership with MCL, and built and refreshed numerous other important relationships in person.

The Monteverde Conservation League of Costa Rica is a private non-profit organization that owns, protects, and purchases land to expand the Children’s Eternal Rainforest (Bosque Eterno de Los Niños – BEN). They expressed gratitude for the contribution that MCLUS brings to their mission–financially, in moral support, and in friendships.

The MCL Annual Assembly reports included progress made in many areas as well as new challenges identified. Land purchase continues to be an important goal as many species migrate to different altitudes in search of food. When forest is present, entirely new species are found almost every 100 meters with only about a 5% overlap. Yúber Rodriguez, current Executive Director of MCL, is continually assessing land buying opportunities with top priority given to land with primary forest within the Bell Bird Biological Corridor.

The 2010 Annual Assembly Meeting was held at the Poco Sol biological field station on the Caribbean slope of the Children’s Eternal Rain Forest on February 13. Some staff hiked across the BEN to attend the meeting and celebrate the new kitchen and dining facility (above). This handsome, high quality structure was built because of generous donations and economical buying of materials.

Laurie Waller (MCLUS Interim Executive Director), Bob Law (MCL Board President), and Yúber Rodriguez (MCL Executive Director), holding a check for the first half of the payment for the Pipe Cruz property, which is part of the Bell Bird Biological Corridor. The second $150,000 must be raised in 2010.

Support Pipe Cruz land purchase today! – Click here to Donate

“On a personal level, the forest is even more beautiful then I remembered. Just think that Costa Rica has only .03% of the world’s land mass, yet has about 5% of the biodiversity. And the BEN has almost 50% of the biodiversity of Costa Rica–in just 54,000 acres! It’s truly packed with life!”

Left to right: begonia flower (San Gerardo field station), juvenile clelia-clelia snake (Poco Sol night hike), molting katydid (Poco Sol night hike), quassia amara bush (Luna Nueva –a biodynamic farm and eco-lodge near Poco Sol owned by New Chapter)

Update on Summer 2010 Trip to the BEN

There is one spot left for the 2010 summer trip (June 11-24) to the BEN with Maggie Eisenberger. If you would like to come and/or would like your name on a waiting list for this year (in case of openings) or for next summer’s trip, please email Maggie at meisenberger@tfssa.org or call her at 608-217-5288.

For trip details visit http://mclus.org/eco-tourism/ and for information on the trip leader visit http://mclus.org/mclus-december-2009-newsletter/

Please click here to donate online today or send a check to:

MCLUS
242 Old Sulphur Springs Road
Manchester, MO 63021

Your gift is greatly appreciated!

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Monteverde Conservation League US is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

MCLUS News – RSVP for upcoming St. Louis Tea honoring Rachel Crandell on February 7 and Land Purchase in Sight!

The Children’s Eternal Rainforest can expand! With your help we can save critical habitat for endangered species like the beautiful Resplendent Quetzal and Bellbird. Thanks to all the children, teens, and adults who have helped us raise funds this far! These are the types of creatures you can protect with your donation (below).

Land Purchase in Sight: Your Assistance Needed

Click here to donate online

We’ve got our sights on the “Pipe” Jose Manuel Cruz property! It is 248 acres (100 ha) in size and is a critical piece of land that will link two protected BEN properties as you can see in the map below (blue section). Currently 50% is forested and 50% is pasture with early signs of forest regeneration. The land will be allowed to regenerate completely back to forest (or be reforested through planting if needed). In total the land costs $300,000. With your generous contributions, MCLUS anticipates giving a $150,000 down payment to secure the contract within the next month. After property registration procedures are completed by the end of the year, we will need to have an additional $150,000 to complete the purchase. Please donate now to protect this land! Every contribution counts! When you make your online donation please note, “Pipe Cruz Property” in the ‘message’ line.

This farm has primary forest, is part of the Bell Bird Biological Corridor and protects important clean water resources used by neighboring communities.

This strategically placed property has pasture areas which can regenerate and in some areas reforestation has already begun.

This blue area on the map shows how purchase of the “Pipe” Cruz property unites two sectors of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Linking the two pieces of land will create a protected corridor that will make it more difficult for poachers and domestic animals to enter the forest.

Invitation to a Tea in St. Louis to honor MCLUS co-founder, Rachel Crandell

All are welcome to share a delicious cup of tea and home baked treats in honor of Rachel Crandell, former President of MCLUS, for her dedication to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest of Costa Rica. The afternoon event will include opportunities to meet others working for this cause, including remarks from Tom Newmark, current MCLUS board member. Items will be available for sale to help raise funds for the BEN.

When: Sunday, February 7th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Where: 5 Chateau Oaks, St. Louis, MO 63124
Hosted by: DiAnne Drake, Carol Teicher, and Vangie Swan

Feel free to ask questions or R.S.V.P. to DiAnne at 314-997-6677

Please click here to donate online today or send a check to:

MCLUS
242 Old Sulphur Springs Road
Manchester, MO 63021

Your gift is greatly appreciated!

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Forever Forest Group Climbs Past First Fundraising Goal

From August 2008 to October 2009 the group of 6 kids raised $5,100.00. Almost all of the money has been raised from selling cards made with photographs from their own travels to the BEN (Bosque Eterno de los Niños) or from cards made with rainforest art designed by the kids. They have given several Power Point presentations to schools and community groups over the 14 months. The group is pictured above, apart from one member who was absent. The FFG is excited about their new goal to raise $10,000.00.

Spotlight on 2010 BEN Trip Leader – Maggie Eisenberger

Maggie Eisenberger (middle) during her M.S. research in Panama with other researchers.

Below, we’ve summarized the credentials of your 2010 trip guide to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. She is a wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm and looks forward to hiking, bird-spotting, and adventuring with you. The early bird reservation discount of $100 discount on the 2010 trip expires after January 31st. Visit http://mclus.org/eco-tourism/ or http://mclus.org/2009/10/ for more details.

• Led a trip to the BEN in June 2009
• Master’s in Tropical Ecology from the Whitney R Harris World Ecology Center at University of Missouri-St. Louis (Her research was on the biotic and abiotic effects of opening a hiking trail in the rainforest. She spent 4 months in the Darien Region of Panama and managed the field research station at Cana)
• Has led trips since 1991 to Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, the Peruvian Amazon, Ecuador, and the Galapagos.
• Developed Curricula on rainforest education for which she received Eisenhower funding for her first trip to the Amazon
• Published rainforest educational activities online and distributed them via Fisher Scientific
• Has given dozens of talks on rainforest to a wide range of groups, including public and private school s (pre-K-12), senior citizen groups, church youth groups, the St. Louis Audubon Society, conferences for ISACS (Independent Schools Association-Central States), ISSL (Independent Schools-St. Louis),AMS (American Montessori Society), NSTA (National Science Teachers Association), NABT (National Association of Biology Teachers), STOM (Science Teachers of Missouri), the Conservation Forum, and at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Sustainability Conference.
• Currently serves on the MCLUS board
• Served 6 years on the board of directors of Save The Rainforest
• Served 18 years on the steering committee of St. Louis Rainforest Advocates
• Written many articles for the E-Newsletters of Save the Rainforest and St. Louis Rainforest Advocates
• 30 years teaching experience (pre-K – 12^th; except 5^th)
• Currently teacher of high school science and math
• Received several teaching awards, including the St. Louis Zoo’s Teacher of the Year Award

Happy New Year From MCLUS! We look forward to partnering with you in 2010 to continue to protect, preserve, and restore the Children’s Eternal Rainforest.

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Many Thanks to the Howe Family for their Creative Fundraising!

Much appreciation is felt for the generosity of Bob and Margie Howe, who asked colleagues and friends to contribute to their favorite charities instead of having a retirement party. MCLUS was one of the organizations they chose, and we received a generous donation! Bob and Margie hope that their success will inspire others to raise funds for the forest in a similar way. They also encourage others to spread the word about the BEN, since many of their colleagues and friends had never heard of it. Bob has visited Monteverde 18 times, is currently teaching English there, and has been a long time friend of Carlos Munoz, former Executive Director of MCL. Bob and Margie hope to help bring electricity and other upgrades to the field stations.

Bob and Margie Howe (left) were honored with a lunch at the MCL office on November 18.

The Nature Quilt Project Completes Cross-Cultural Education Grant

The Nature Quilt Project submitted their final report this month to the Melinda Gray Ardia Environmental Foundation, who provided funds for students in Illinois and in La Tigra, Costa Rica to share in a water study. Students in Illinois visited a local outdoor environmental education center to practice the scientific method in investigating water quality. Meanwhile, students in La Tigra Costa Rica did the same, visiting a local stream in La Tigra and a stream at the Finca Steller Nature Center in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. Both groups enjoyed the field trips immensely and learned a lot! It is hoped that more students in Costa Rica will have the opportunity to visit and spend time at the Finca Steller Nature Center, located on the Caribbean side of the BEN near the Pocosol field station. Rachel Crandell, former MCLUS President, invested much of her own labor and funds, to provide this educational facility for local children.

Fifth grade students from Industry, Illinois used nets to catch tadpoles, fish, and macroinvertebrates in a stream study in April (above). Students from La Tigra also captured and identified macroinvertebrates at a stream nearby their school (below), followed by a visit to a stream at the Finca Steller Nature Center (bottom).

Thank You All For Your Contributions to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest!

This beautiful poem captures what your contributions have accomplished, no matter how small or big.

The poem is published in the book Tertulia en el Bosque, a compilation of works by 5 international and 24 Costa Rican poets. The book was edited by Luissiana Naranjo and the poem featured below was written by her. It was translated by Allison Deines.

The Children’s Eternal Rainforest

I am relieved to know that
silence is found in every leaf on the trees
like that breath of air that we dream of,
always luminous.

To know that today
so many hands
are apprentice seeds,
and later,
they will be trunks to defy the moon
with their branches like mischievous children,
impetutous against the saw.

Because no tree wants to die
with its shadow naked,
cut down in its womb
like that last hearth
that gave warmth to some man.

And that this land is fertile witness
of his audacity,
to be a tree amongst so much lead and cement,
to lose its wild identity
because roots sometimes slip
and clouds tiredly move away from their ideals.

This forest is eternal
not only because it warmly preserves the bird or the plant,
the insect or the frog,
but also because it preserves the POET,
yes, it preserves that poetically green,
that life that is summed up in its essence,
that game of time that never is born, never grows, and never dies,
that innocent sprout for which everything is possible,
that pioneer wind that topples all,
that sensuous rain that multiplies all,
and the silence…that becomes more poetic in its silence.

I am relieved to know,
that this forest is eternal
just
because you and I
tossed a coin
to win its existence from our imagination.

Keep in mind the summer 2010 trip to the BEN. For more details visit http://mclus.org/eco-tourism/

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Monteverde Conservation League US is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
All donations are tax deductible. Donate Now

Summer Trip to the BEN in 2010

Come take the trip that you’ve always been meaning to take! Maggie Eisenberger will lead the trip to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest from June 11-24, 2010. The trip itinerary includes learning about the tropical moist forest ecosystem of the Children’s Eternal Rainforest from the San Gerardo field station and comparing that with the tropical dry forests of the lowlands in Carara National Park. For more details visit http://mclus.org/eco-tourism/

The balance of $1995 is due April 1, 2010. An Early Bird Discount of $100 applies to those who send their deposit prior to Dec 31, 2009. To reserve your place or ask questions, contact Maggie at meisenberger@tfssa.org or by phone (cell 608-217-5288 or home 636-532-3290).

Your eco-tourism dollars are a wonderful way to support the BEN. The talks you might give upon your return are a great way to help us get the message out and inspire additional contributions for this special worldwide collaborative project that has spanned over two decades.

Maggie Eisenberger and trip members on the Corobici River.

Missouri Botanical Garden Teacher Workshop a Success. Rainforest Kit Available to Borrow

Over 40 teachers participated in free rainforest education workshops, and reviews were high! Here’s what one teacher wrote: “The new rainforest tubs are very exciting for any teacher doing a unit on the rainforest. A teacher would not have to buy any other materials to carry out the unit. The tubs are at two levels. They were put together some years ago and have been updated with new or revised activities and new books such as The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure. The materials are fresh and crisp and very hands on.” Visit http://www.mobot.org/education/strc/kits.asp to learn about the Rainforest Kit and for a $25 fee you may loan one. Curriculum for grades 2-4 and 5-8 are available for download at: http://www.mobot.org/education/web.asp For further information, contact Tracie Cain with the Education Division of the Missouri Botanical Garden at 314-577-5147.

Teachers at the Rainforest Workshop at the Missouri Botanical Garden talk with Rachel Crandell, former MCLUS President. Rachel was involved with updating the kits and preparing for the workshop.

The Forever Forest Group Reaching for Their $5,000 Fundraiser Goal

This small but dedicated bunch of students and parents have been striving to raise $5,000 for the Children’s Eternal Rainforest since August 2008. Comprised mostly of former ’student ambassadors,’ or students who won free trips to the BEN, these kids have used their photographs from the trip to make blank notecards. They have been selling them at a variety of fairs and even have gone door to door selling them. They have also given a number of talks about their trip. For more information about the group, feel free to contact Terry Sheets at dtsheets@sbcglobal.net

Two members of the Forever Forest Group sold notecards at the Alton Earthtones Festival.

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

Monteverde Conservation League US is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
All donations are tax deductible. Donate at the Network for Good.

Rachel’s visit to the BEN in February, 2009 after the MCL annual meeting.

Remembering Rachel Crandell, Friend of the Forest and its People

Our dear friend and President of MCLUS passed on Monday, September 7th, 2009. We wish you peace and stillness as you receive this news. This newsletter is dedicated to remembering Rachel’s contribution to rainforest conservation through MCLUS as well as reflecting on her inspiring spirit. Gratitude for the richness of Rachel’s character helps us to see a continuing expression of her with us. Please join us in remembering and giving thanks for her example.

Rachel loved to plant trees, as shown planting Citharexylum sp. in the top photo. As an appropriate metaphor, the tree planted (Podocarpus oleifolius) in her honor (bottom photo) is the offspring of a rare tree located near the MCL office. Undoubtedly, it too will have many offspring as it continues to grow and reproduce!

“Nobody makes a greater mistake than he who does nothing because he could only do a little.” ~Edmund Burke

Rachel gave us a wonderful example of how one idea put into action can make a difference. Rachel had the idea of finding something hopeful and inspiring for her 2nd grade class to learn about. It led her to discover the Children’s Eternal Rainforest (Bosque Eterno de los Niňos – BEN) of Costa Rica and eventually to co-found the Monteverde Conservation League U.S. in 2002. The BEN itself started in 1986 by the Monteverde Conservation League (MCL) for the purpose of preserving and protecting tropical ecosystems in Costa Rica. When Swedish second graders got the idea to help save 25 acres of tropical rainforest, that idea expanded into a world-wide youth-led effort to do something much bigger– purchase 54,000 acres of tropical rainforest.

Together, Rachel and her husband Dwight, began to reinvigorate the effort to protect the BEN, to help keep a good idea going. As a member of MCL and as a volunteer President of MCLUS, Rachel contributed to three new purchases of land and helped to maintain guard salaries to protect the forest from poachers and squatters. Through Rachel’s and Dwight’s individual efforts, an environmental educator was also hired for a short time and a nature center in Costa Rica developed for school groups to visit. In March 2008, Rachel co-authored The Forever Forest: Kids Save a Tropical Treasure with Kristin Joy Pratt-Serafini. This children’s book, full of information for all ages, was another good idea put into action, intended to help raise another generation of international stewards for the BEN.

“When you pray, move your feet” ~African proverb

Rachel’s ability to translate issues of global significance into action on the ground was underlain by her deep love for the good and beautiful. She shared this love as a 2nd grade teacher for 20 years at Principia Lower School in St. Louis, MO, as an eco-trip leader from 1992-2009, as an author of children’s books (also Hands of the Maya: Villagers at Work and Play; Hands of the Rain Forest: The Emberá People of Panama), and as an advocate for indigenous peoples. Rachel collected over 100 traditional Emberá stories and published a first volume in English, Spanish, and Emberá with assistance from Rogelio Cansari (an Emberá living in Panama City) and her daughter, Joanna Crandell.

Rachel had an unusual fearlessness that took her to Belize, Costa Rica, Namibia, Ecuador, and many other parts of the world, including going ’solo’ to Papua New Guinea. She had an endless love for learning and especially for people whose cultures embraced the land and life around them. Fortunately, her insatiable appetite for diversity was complemented by an ability to rapidly make friends and gain trust. The warmth of her smile cut through cultural barriers. She had a wisdom of knowing how to manuever sticky situations, and a graciousness that never compromised principle but respected the best in everyone. She relished sharing stories, giving simple pleasures, and making a difference in the lives of those who have fewer choices. Her laugh was deeply genuine, and so were her friendships.

As the saying goes take only pictures, leave only footprints–so we all have a vivid picture of Rachel’s inspired example and an indelible footprint which continues to find impression in the actions of our own lives. Thank you Rachel for your endless giving!

Friends of the BEN gathered on Sept. 11 in Mother’s Grove in the Bajo del Tigre section of the BEN to celebrate and remember Rachel. Katy Van Dusen brought brownies, as Rachel loved chocolate. There was a beautiful Morpho butterfly nearby, birds singing and white faced monkeys could be heard nearby. Attendees included a mix of MCL employees, members and friends from Monteverde.

A Word from the Monteverde Conservation League Executive Director

Even though we feel sorrow today, we are left with the great legacy of Rachel and Dwight, which is the love for the things that we do, principally in the form of children and the protection of nature. Today the MCL commits itself even more, so their efforts continue to bear fruits.

Many thanks, Rachel, for everything that you have accomplished, and we are convinced that since Monday she has and will follow us more closely, in the heart of the Children´s Eternal Rainforest and in each of the daily activities we carry out…

As Rachel would say, For the forest…

Yúber Rodriguez S.
Executive Director a.i.
Monteverde Conservation League and
Children’s Eternal Rainforest
yrodriguez@acmcr.org
http://www.acmcr.org

Rachel standing in front of the new building at Pocosol Biological Field Station (February ‘09).

The Mission Continues

As we gratefully acknowledge the contributions of both Rachel and Dwight to the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, we can continue to look for more progress. The new building at Pocosol (above) will enable visiting student and tourism groups access to a classroom and a more comfortable stay. The eco-tourism trip to the BEN in June 2010, including a visit to the San Gerardo Field Station, will proceed uninterrupted with leadership provided by Maggie Eisenberger (pictured below).

“Those who are ready to go are already invited.” ~Rachel Crandell

Everyone has a role in forwarding the mission. Below are some of the ways you can participate:

• come see the living treasures of the BEN for yourself! (more details about the 2010 trip coming in the October newsletter)
• donate to support Rachel’s earnest desire to protect the Pacific slope, with hopes of saving the bellbird and quetzal populations
• give a presentation about your trip to the BEN to inspire others to get involved (and let us know when you do!)
• volunteer your expert advice to the MCLUS staff or Board of Directors
• consider future service on the Board of MCLUS

Please direct your communications to info@mclus.org.

Donations in honor of Rachel should be written to MCLUS and noted “in Honor of Rachel Crandell.”

Checks can be mailed to:

Monteverde Conservation League, US
P.O. Box 938
Manchester, MO 63011

You can also visit http://mclus.org/give/donate-now/ to make a donation online.

Rachel and Maggie Eisenberger in July 2008. Maggie led a trip to the BEN in early June 2009, and will lead the 2010 trip.

For the forest,
Friends and Board of MCLUS

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