After seven months of volunteering in Bogotá as the Communications Manager for Envol Vert Colombia, Liorah set out to explore and document the projects in Toluviejo and Ovejas, in the department of Sucre, for ten days.
On November 10, Liorah arrived on the Caribbean coast, discovering its climate and the costeño accent for the first time. The schedule of the visit was dense in order to make the most of the ten days: plot visits, forest visits, participation in the processing of products from the tropical dry forest, biodiversity monitoring, and interviews.
The first stop was the municipio of Toluviejo. On the first day, we woke up early to explore the village (vereda) of La Esperanza, meet the participants, and visit several plots. We began with the plot of Mr. Vidal Antonio Márquez Correa, which borders the Varsovia hill and La
Esperanza lake. He showed us his ecotourism project, his conservation areas where he plants a wide diversity of native tree species, as well as his agroforestry and silvopastoral plots. He also showed us the “Cepillito”, from the genus Combretum, whose delicious nectar can be sipped. This visit was followed by the viewing of camera-trap results (we saw a tamandua climbing a tree) and by a visit to the plot of Mr. Carmelo Fúnez Novoa.
On the second day, we took Liorah to discover the village of Coraza: we walked through the entire vereda, passing by the many natural pools, and visited the plots of Ms. Fermina María Abad and of Mr. José de la Cruz Correa, Mr. Luis Puente Barbosa, Mr. Bladimir Piñeres Ramos, and Mr. Jaime Rafaelo Tovar Montes. There, Liorah experienced the great hospitality of these rural communities, who welcomed us with tinto and shared meals and conversations.
The third day was dedicated to economic alternatives. The women of the AsoJóvenes association from the village of La Esperanza processed orejero seeds into orejero chips.
On Friday, November 14, the exploration of the project in Ovejas began. Liorah accompanied the village of … in installing camera traps, in collaboration with the Fundación Natural Unidos por la Conservación. She then met Ms. …, a true pillar in the implementation of the project in …
Before she left, we took Liorah to visit the Varsovia hill in the municipio of Toluviejo. Accompanied by Mr. Wilson Clemente de Agustín, we hiked for a few hours on this emblematic hill, a symbol of the struggle for the conservation of the tropical dry forest: limestone extraction threatens the forest, the biodiversity that inhabits it, and the water resources it provides.
In addition to discovering the way people work on the Caribbean coast, Liorah also got to experience the volunteers’ life outside of work in Sucre: going to the beach and eating fried fish with patacones, getting around everywhere by motorbike, and spotting monkeys while we bathed in the river in the heart of the tropical dry forest in Colosó.
After seven months of volunteering in Bogotá as the Communications Manager for Envol Vert Colombia, Liorah set out to explore and document the projects in Toluviejo and Ovejas, in the department of Sucre, for ten days.
On November 10, Liorah arrived on the Caribbean coast, discovering its climate and the costeño accent for the first time. The schedule of the visit was dense in order to make the most of the ten days: plot visits, forest visits, participation in the processing of products from the tropical dry forest, biodiversity monitoring, and interviews.
The first stop was the municipio of Toluviejo. On the first day, we woke up early to explore the village (vereda) of La Esperanza, meet the participants, and visit several plots. We began with the plot of Mr. Vidal Antonio Márquez Correa, which borders the Varsovia hill and La
Esperanza lake. He showed us his ecotourism project, his conservation areas where he plants a wide diversity of native tree species, as well as his agroforestry and silvopastoral plots. He also showed us the “Cepillito”, from the genus Combretum, whose delicious nectar can be sipped. This visit was followed by the viewing of camera-trap results (we saw a tamandua climbing a tree) and by a visit to the plot of Mr. Carmelo Fúnez Novoa.
On the second day, we took Liorah to discover the village of Coraza: we walked through the entire vereda, passing by the many natural pools, and visited the plots of Ms. Fermina María Abad and of Mr. José de la Cruz Correa, Mr. Luis Puente Barbosa, Mr. Bladimir Piñeres Ramos, and Mr. Jaime Rafaelo Tovar Montes. There, Liorah experienced the great hospitality of these rural communities, who welcomed us with tinto and shared meals and conversations.
The third day was dedicated to economic alternatives. The women of the AsoJóvenes association from the village of La Esperanza processed orejero seeds into orejero chips.
On Friday, November 14, the exploration of the project in Ovejas began. Liorah accompanied the village of … in installing camera traps, in collaboration with the Fundación Natural Unidos por la Conservación. She then met Ms. …, a true pillar in the implementation of the project in …
Before she left, we took Liorah to visit the Varsovia hill in the municipio of Toluviejo. Accompanied by Mr. Wilson Clemente de Agustín, we hiked for a few hours on this emblematic hill, a symbol of the struggle for the conservation of the tropical dry forest: limestone extraction threatens the forest, the biodiversity that inhabits it, and the water resources it provides.
In addition to discovering the way people work on the Caribbean coast, Liorah also got to experience the volunteers’ life outside of work in Sucre: going to the beach and eating fried fish with patacones, getting around everywhere by motorbike, and spotting monkeys while we bathed in the river in the heart of the tropical dry forest in Colosó.
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