A full day of conference and animals!

Today was a jam packed day!

This morning started off with institution highlights in which organizations shared their ups and downs and were able to ask for support on any issues they are encountering.  The small updates were a short way to figure out who to seek out and ask more questions of later.  The TAZE participants have all been supportive and open to everyone.  Learning about other organizations and their journeys have been extremely valuable to all attending.

Next up two speakers:

Kelly Drinnen is from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and spoke about their sanctuary that is located about a six hour boat ride from the shore!  They obviously only have a limited number of visitors to their sanctuary but offer many teacher workshops and opportunities online to bring the scientific data to the classroom.  Check out their website for the many opportunities and lots of information on coral bleaching, oil spill cleanup and ocean scientific information! http://flowergarden.noaa.gov/ I am most excited about joining their email list to stay more connected to what is happening to our ocean.  During our programs at the El Paso Zoo, we often talk about the Rio Grande and where it flows into, so it would be great to know and understand real time conservation in the Gulf of Mexico.

The second speaker was Carole Allen from the Sea Turtle Restoration Project.   It was very interesting to see and learn first hand that the seven species of sea turtles are either critically endangered or threatened.  CRAZY!  Check out their website to take action. http://www.seaturtles.org/

The rest of the day was mixed with behind the scenes tours of the education animal facility, and then a choice of one other behind the scenes area.  I chose elephants and Heather chose carnivores.  The behind the scenes elephants was great to view their young Asian elephants.   Last year the Houston Zoo had two Asian elephant babies and they are growing up fast!  The experience is very similar to our onsite super deluxe behind the scenes elephant tour at the El Paso Zoo in which participants can assist bathing the elephants.  Learn more at elpasozoo.org/adventure.  Oh and the Houston Zoo also have a very cute and friendly resident dog in the elephant building!

Asian elephant youngsters being trouble makers. 

We also had a chance to participate in the giraffe feeding.  The experience was important to us since the El Paso Zoo will start giraffe feeding in the Spring!  So it was great to see the logistics of how they carry out a successful giraffe feeding.  Most of the giraffe herd at the Houston Zoo are Masai giraffes, the largest and tallest subspecies of giraffes.

Romaine lettuce anyone?

In the early afternoon we broke into breakout sessions on topics including outreach programs, animal handling, formal education and social media.  The sessions were very valuable to interact and collaborate with other organizations around Texas on the topics given but also just to branch out and chat with fellow educators who share the same passions.  Texas is huge ranging from the humid marshlands to the dry desert making the variety between us all amazing!  The educators at TAZE are all very passionate in their respective areas.  

We wrapped up the day at the Landry's Downtown Aquarium.  Does Landry's sound familiar?  There is a Landry's seafood restaurant in El Paso, and it is all connected.  The founder of Landry's has created several aquariums around the country.  The Landry's Downtown Aquarium in Houston is home to many fish species but also has many birds and mammals.  They present educational programs both on site and off site and we were lucky enough to meet their two toed sloth.

Two toed sloth.

Starfish everywhere in this tank. 

Polka dot ray. 

I am fascinated by the mystical seahorses.  They had a tank that was full of these amazing creatures and I could have stayed there all night!  But they had a train to ride, behind the scenes tours, squid to dissect and snacks to munch on!

Mystical! 

Caribbean seahorses. 

Ok I will wrap up with another video but this one is hilarious!  They had a touch tank with several marine species to touch.  They also have a little bubble for kids to climb in to get an even more up close look.  I climbed in and Heather is above.  Watch the madness:

Goodnight all and wish us safe travels back to the desert!  Conference till about noon and then heading out.

Naima and Heather

Another amazing day in Houston.  The conference started in the afternoon so we had some time to get some breakfast and visit Hermann Park right next to the zoo.  The park is beautiful with playgrounds for kids, a lake, monuments and birds galore!  We saw American coots, great egrets, great blue heron, cormorants, black bellied whistling ducks and ring-necked ducks in the pond. 

Heather at Hermann Park.

Beautiful pond at Hermann Park.

I found the PERFECT place for a nap!

Then on to the conference.  About 16 organizations are represented at the conference.  One of the first people I met was from Bat Conservation International who the El Paso Zoo is partners with for the upcoming Kickoff Celebration of Year of the Bat on January 28-29!  The El Paso Zoo is the first AZA Year of the Bat event!  So come out and join us!  Find out more at elpasozoo.org

The Houston Zoo started off with an introduction to their Education department and a highlight of some of their key programs such as Collegiate Conservation Program, Alternative Teen Break and Point Click Zoo.  Their education department includes about six full time Education Specialists, part time year round staff and up to a total of 40 educators in the summer!  We then heard from two of the four members of the Houston Zoo Conservation staff who are involved in local and international conservation.  They described programs working to protect Texas toads, pigmy elephants, painted dogs and many more!  The programs all work with local communities to educate and encourage locals to protect the wildlife. 

Next, we toured the education facility which houses an auditorium, three classes, offices and a call center.  It was great to visit with many other educators as passionate about conservation and education as we are!

The entire group was broken into three smaller groups to take on the challenge of a picture scavenger hunt with educators as our guide.  We had a great time just exploring the zoo and I hope we get some more time to make it to every exhibit.  Here are some pictures from our scavenger hunt:

Tucker - one of their Asian Elephants that is at the age that he likes to hang by himself.

Heather appropriately in Africa.

One of the chimps will kiss back against the glass!

RHINOS!

Conservation in action.

Nap time for the cheetahs.  Two brothers.

Sea turtle who likes to scare kids and sleep wedged under a rock!

Heather loves rhinos too!

The evening was finished off with a happy hour with hors d'oeuvres, drinks and animal encounters!  We mingled with others from the conference and gathered a lot of useful information in this informal setting.  Everyone was mentioning that we traveled the farthest from El Paso.  Yes, we are out there but our zoo is awesome!

Fish with their eyes above the water.  Craaazzzy.

We walked back to our hotel in time to post this quick blog and get ready for an early morning tomorrow. 

Check out this super cute video!

Naima and Heather

Night one in Houston.

Houston is warm and humid and I love it!  It is January and there are beautiful flowers, green grass and water all over the city.  We arrived and checked in to our hotel with enough time to do a bit of exploring.  Our hotel is one stop on the trolley away from the zoo, close to downtown Houston.  The conference starts tomorrow with some speakers, a scavenger hunt, meeting the zoo's education team and a mixer with animal presentations!  After getting out and walking around the city a little we are very excited to visit the zoo tomorrow. 

Take a look at some of our exploring Houston pictures below.  We had a great first day and ready for tomorrow!

Heather snapped a great picture out the window of our airplane.

Flowers in January!

Waiting for our shuttle to come pick us up.

Cute bike rack.  Lots of people use bikes and are out exercising here.

Exploring the city.

Solar powered parking pay station!

In Houston households, people can choose their energy.  They have an option to buy renewable sourced energy.  It is their Power to Choose.  Take a look at their website to learn more.  Also Houston has made a commitment to encourage the use of electric cars by providing charging stations around the city.  I am on the look out for one of these stations and will hopefully get some pictures!

 

We could not help it.  Through the conference we will be attending the Lawrys Downtown Aquarium but we walked to it to check it out.  We just took a look at the outside and gift shop and will wait to get the full experience on Thursday.  But we are excited to take a look around!  The outside looks very interesting with huge salt water fish tanks and about a 25 ft waterfall.

Downtown Houston

We had a great time figuring out the trolley system, strolling downtown, and getting a short taste of Houston.   Tomorrow starts the Texas Aquarium and Zoo Educators Conference!  Our cameras are charged, notebooks and pens are ready. 

Time to get some rest! 

Goodnight!

Naima and Heather

Our plane is here!

The plane has arrived in El Paso and we are getting ready to board!

Of course not before doing some more work on upcoming Spring Break Camps on my computer. Some quick edits and Houston here we come!

Naima

Heather and Naima's Houston Adventure

Hey everyone!

This is Heather Rivera and Naima Montacer, two Education Specialists at the El Paso Zoo.  Next week we will be traveling to Houston, Texas to attend the Texas Aquarium and Zoo Educators (TAZE) Conference.  Our short trip to Houston is from Tuesday to Friday, Jan 17-20.  We are very excited about this opportunity to network, share ideas and collaborate with educators from across Texas.  On the agenda are behind the scenes tours, animal encounters, workshops, speakers and fooooood!

We hope to bring back new ideas and incorporate them into our educational programs here at the El Paso Zoo.  At the same time, maybe some of our ideas will be included in programs around the state or country. 

To learn more about the workshop check out their website at: http://www.houstonzoo.org/private/TAZE2012/ and to view our jam packed agenda click here.

Follow our adventure on this blog of touring the Houston Zoo and behind the scenes action, meeting new people and exploring the largest city in Texas, Houston!   We are bringing two cameras and our iphones to capture every detail that happens!

Heather and Naima

With Gratitude and Appreciation

My trip to Malaysia and Indonesia

I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest thanks to all of you for all your support, encouragement, and prayers before, during, and after my trip to Asia.  Also I want to share some highlights of my trip.

One of my Asia trip objectives was to attend The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) conference and analyze first hand the Palm Oil Plantation Crisis. During The RSPO conference I had the opportunity to meet many people from different businesses, and organizations.  It was great to see over 900 (RSPO record attendance) world-wide delegates working together to find solutions to a complex problem: palm oil.  After going over my conference notes and reflecting I found it interesting that wildlife conservation and health issues relating to palm oil were hardly mentioned or even touched upon. 

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is a global nonprofit organization encouraging sustainable harvesting of palm oil to meet the worldwide demand for the oil.   The RSPO has very detailed certification guidelines in which companies must meet strict criteria from each level of the production process.  One concern is how it is very hard to identify the real sources where the palm oil is being collected.  Most companies that utilize palm oil do not know where it is coming from.  Another challenge is to get rid of pesticides and/or look for eco friendly solutions.

I am excited with what the RSPO is doing.  I think trying to get companies and small holders to use better practices when planting oil palms is a great start.   In fact RSPO has been influential and inspirational in many ways to other organizations and individuals.  As educator I am inspired to continue offering our guests all the different perspectives about palm oil and the many opportunities to take action.  From what I have researched and observed it is very important to consider palm oil workers and consumers health issues among other issues.  It was very powerful to witness at the conference a group of six delegates representing 80 families evicted in Indonesia from their lands by big palm oil companies. They came to the RSPO conference looking for solutions while trying to get their land back.  Unfortunately RSPO could not offer any solutions to their problems. 

During my trip I was able see many species of wildlife including Sumatran elephants, Sumatran orangutans, short and long-tailed macaques, different wild birds and insects.  I also saw many species of plants including wonderful flowers, trees and the most delicious fruits including durians, manggis, sauh, passion fruit, pineapple, papaya, watermelon and more.  I communicated via e-mail with regular updates for the El Paso Zoo blog (http://www.epzooadventures.blogspot.com/ ) and facebook the majesty and spectacular views of the rainforest as well as many of my experiences.  This trip was definitely one of the best experiences I have had in my life.  The Sumatran and Bornean Rain Forest are amazingly gorgeous!  Now it is my goal to create solid biodiversity conservation education programs at our zoo using the Malaysia and Indonesia magnificent trip experience as one of my resources.

I believe that having participated in this wonderful experience we have set a new standard or responsibility towards this wonderful organization, to inspire people and other organizations to support, celebrate and conserve natural resources.

I also want to present sincere thanks to our El Paso Zoo Director Steve Marshall, El Paso Zoological Society, my supervisor and our zoo Education Curator Rick LoBello, Administration Personnel, Education Department, Zoo Volunteers, and all the other people in this organization who contributed in any way to the success of my trip to Malaysia and Indonesia.

I look forward to seeing each of you and express my gratitude.
I am ready to continue my adventure!

Sincerely,

Antonia Alvarado

Education Specialist

4001 E. Paisano Dr.

El Paso, TX 79905

alvaradoax@elpasotexas.gov

(915) 521-1864

A meeting with the director from the Orangutan Information Centre.

I was fortunate enough to meet with Panut Hadisiswoyo, the founder and current director of the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC).  Mr. Hadisiswoyo took our group to visit a reforestation site and tree nurseries including the Gunung Leuser National Park restoration site in the Besitang sub-district of Langkat, North
Sumatra.

The OIC is a nonprofit organization sponsored by the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) who is dedicated to the conservation of Sumatran orangutans and their habitat.  The SOS works to support grassroot organizations and their efforts in conservation.  Some of their projects are habitat restoration, ecotourism and the very unique creation of conservation villages which are models of conservation minded living.

Next February the OIC restoration team will be clearing acres of palm oil trees and replanting them with native plants and trees.  Mr. Hadisiswoyo is gathering all the equipment together to accomplish the restoration as fast as possible.

The OIC's mission statement as told by Mr. Hadisiswoyo is to "promote public awareness of the plight and value of the critically endangered Sumatran orangutans and its unique habitat through grassroots educational programs that empower local communities living near the last remaining orangutan habitat."

OIC's reforestation/planting objectives include:

• To help enhance the rehabilitation of degraded Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP) areas as a result of deforestation and conversion to palm oil plantations by replanting land with indigenous tree species.
• Conduct regular maintenance of planted trees to help ensure their survival and growth.
• Monitor the land and planted trees within the GLNP to ensure continued security and protection from any further encroachment.
• To improve the capacity of local communities to help with conservation and forestry programs in an effort to increase ownership and responsibility towards the sustainability of the GLNP.

Two groups of seedlings will be replanted in the national park:
• Indigenous hardwood tree species that naturally grow in the forests of the GLNP.
• Fruit tree species to be planted in an area designated for a community forestry program to reinforce buffer zones adjacent to the park.

In regards to ecotourism, orangutans, their habitat and their future Mr. Hadisiswoyo added:
“Many are finally catching on to the fact that if tourism is to provide a sustainable livelihood opportunity for the local community, it must be carried out responsibly and managed correctly. This is a good sign for the future.”

I was honored to have the opportunity to drink tea with Mr. Hadisiswoyo during my visit.  I was also invited to share the ride back from Besitang to Medan in their vehicle so we could continue our chat.  We had long conversations about what can be done to alleviate the Palm Oil Crisis and to prevent the extinction of the orangutan and other species.

Mr. Hadisiswoyo has been vocal in the community and to media about the severity of these issues.  Click here to read a recent article regarding an orangutan as a pet in which Mr. Hadisiswoyo firmly states his side. 



To get a feel for the habitat, ecoystem and wildlife in the Gunung Leuser National Park watch this video put together by the OIC. 

Antonia