La Paz Group

04/11/2018

A charming innovation that was clearly in the realm of what we call entrepreneurial conservation.

  We made a decision early on, for reasons I do not recall clearly, to avoid linking out to obituaries–even for heroes whose lives have resonance in our pages. This one made me think twi…

05/06/2018

We've been fans of collective nouns for years, and bird-related ones are often particularly effective: a Murder of Crows, a Parliament of Owls, a Murmur of Starlings, etc. But we have to admit that a River of Warblers sounds pretty darn awesome!

We have wow posts about birds all the time, but this one will have to take the cake, for now: A River of Warblers: ‘the Greatest Birding Day of My Life’ At an observatory in Quebec, they were hopin…

22/05/2018

So much of our history has included honoring the magnificence of nature - both fauna and flora. We continue to applaud the people and organizations that work to conserve them in all possible ways.

When the journalist Douglas Preston shared this story, I was in the process of closing up shop in India, where we had been in residence since 2010. Kipling-induced daydreaming notwithstanding, Amie…

20/04/2018

Congratulations to La Paz Group team member, Seth Inman!

We’ve discussed eBird countless times here in the past, but I don’t think I ever mentioned their monthly challenges, which are designed to encourage eBirders to contribute some extra el…

01/04/2018

What fun it's been over the years finding just the right Bird of the Day photo for this particular calendar date....the bird is there, but nature definitely has her "April Fool's" hat on. 😁

female – Chan Chich Lodge, Belize

31/03/2018

Coffee as a vehicle to connect with culture and history - inspiration, indeed!

This review, thanks to Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, has my attention on The Coffee-Flavored American Dream of a young man with about as improbable a mission as I can imagine. As I make my way back to the co…

29/03/2018

We applaud this form of collaboration 100%, and wish more corporations had the same sense of community responsibility.

Yesterday we were compelled to link to an illustration that captured the importance of vigilance. Putting that link in context was the reminder that our primary purpose on this platform is to seek …

20/03/2018

Happy first day of Spring! Thanks to Puneet Dhar for such a wonderful photo to help celebrate.

Pangot, Uttarakhand

15/03/2018

Conservation and Coffee... perfection, indeed!

Ah, our favorite trifecta of the 2010-2017 era: coffee and birds and India! (Not to mention that the 2 species of birds featured in the article have graced this site in our Bird of the Day feature!…

20/10/2017

The beauty of birds never fails to mesmerize.

We last mentioned murmurations about three years ago, linking to slideshows from the Guardian that covered European Starlings in the UK. And in our Bird of the Day feature we have shared photos of …

02/09/2017

Beware the charcoal you barbecue with...

The picture above, and the picture below, will suffice if you do not have the half hour required to read the details. Earthsight is a non-profit organization that uses in-depth investigations to ex…

31/08/2017

The taste of Costa Rica has been inspiring us for two decades

17 years ago, the word organikos crept into our vocabulary. Our company had recently been transformed from an advisory service to a management company. We were one year into the process of establis…

28/08/2017

The intersection between economic, nutritional and ecological value is at the core of what Organikos is about. Connecting those attributes with our innate desire to explore the world links the story.

Economic value from trees is as old as mankind. Timber for homes and ships and all variety of implements. Nutritional value also: olives and their oil; figs; nuts. In the last year while in the for…

24/08/2017

Canopy corridors secure a future worthy of our consideration

Thanks to Brad Plumer and the commitment of the New York Times to continue covering the complex topic of climate change in interesting, and sometimes hopeful ways: Stitching Together Forests Can He…

22/08/2017

22/08/2017

22/08/2017

Another great lionfish post by contributor Phil Karp.

I’ve posted previously about the lionfish invasion that is threatening coral reef and other marine ecosystems throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Southern Atlantic Seaboard of the United …

28/07/2017

Where will YOU be on August 21st?

Thanks to Cool Green Science for this set of instructions for North American viewing of the sun’s near-disappearance: Where will you be on August 21, 2017 when the solar eclipse passes throug…

20/07/2017

The beauty in the broken...

Almost from its inception there have been archaeological studies of the Maya sites at Chan Chich by nature of the lodge’s stated purpose to protect the area from further lootering. Professor …

18/07/2017

A warm welcome to Richard Kostecke, our newest La Paz Group contributor! We met him as a guest at Chan Chich Lodge, and as a conservation biologist and avid birder he fit right in. He has a Kerala connection by marriage, so this opening Bird of the Day species seemed particularly appropriate.

Thattekad Bird Sanctuary, Kerala, India

17/07/2017

21st Century Archaeologists have so many more tools at their disposal!

Crist’s post about this fascinating National Geographic article last week touched on its excellent graphics but only began to scratch the surface of the amazing technology that would certainl…

14/07/2017

Unusual animal behavior that would make any mother proud.

The more time we spend at Chan Chich Lodge the more we see the seasonality of birth patterns in the wild. There clearly seems to be a “baby season”, that starts with the cats and moves …

13/07/2017

Thanks, Rich! And happy bicentennial HDT...

Today marks the birthday noted here, and I have just read another excellent essay marking the occasion. It happens to coincide with receiving a couple of excellent photographs from Richard Kosteck…

11/07/2017

Scaling up for species survival

At Chan Chich Lodge we are aware that the half million acres of forest surrounding us are essential habitat not just for the jaguars, pumas, ocelots, margays and jaguarundis we have the good fortun…

09/07/2017

Thinking about conservation, one walk through the woods at a time.

This book to the left, first published the year I was born, was always on the coffee table in the home I grew up in. I have mentioned a high school exposure to Walden–the writing, the place, …

08/07/2017

Archeology season at Chan Chich Lodge is the gift of discovery that keeps giving

Discoveries in the lands once populated by Maya and their kingdoms continue apace. As Chan Chich Lodge completes three decades of archeological exploration, the small wonders of three millennia are…

06/07/2017

Evolution Revelation.