The Conservation Opportunity (CO) team, along with Finca Escuela de La Perla, the Puerto Rico Detectorists Association, and the Bayamón Pack 334, celebrated “Scouts Trash the Trash Day” and the Festival of Endemic Birds by offering a talk on endemic birds of Puerto Rico. A total of 220 pounds of garbage was also collected at Guaypao Beach, located in La Perla. We also installed an interpretive sign, with the authorization of the La Perla Community Board, for the “Enjoy with Conscience” campaign at Finca Escuela de La Perla, with the participation of 27 people on May 6.
“We would like to thank Jerome from Finca Escuela de La Perla, the Puerto Rico Detectorists Association, Manada 334 from Bayamón, Junta Comunitaria de La Perla and the community for joining us in the installation of our fifth environmental conservation and natural area cleanup sign,” CO stressed on its social media.
CO indicated that the participation of the community gave them a lot of joy, energy and interest, adding that the public's attendance was fundamental to continue carrying a message of “conservation and cleanliness of the natural resources on our island”.
It is worth mentioning that Finca Escuela de la Perla was the one who encouraged CO to carry out this activity, recognizing the care of the environment in a place with a lot of tourist activity due to its location in Old San Juan.
“Some students completed green hours, we learned a lot and had a great time. We learned about our birds and coastal ecosystems also about how metals affect our reefs. Eternally grateful,” expressed Finca Escuela de la Perla through the Facebook platform.
They argued that the installation of the interactive sign would help the local project come closer to fulfilling its mission of creating a culture of planting in the community of children and adults in the Pearl.
“The idea is that now that the area is clean and the sign is installed, people can appreciate how beautiful the place is and keep it clean,” said CO Founder Fabiola Torres.
After the beach cleanup was completed with the installation of the sign and the educational presentation of the endemic birds, the Puerto Rico Detectorists Association gave a talk on the importance of environmental preservation and the relocation of historic metal artifacts, and other sharp objects, discovered in the pickup.
“Removing these metals is very important, as they are released, they become sharp debris, dangerous for those who visit the beaches. These residues disperse in the sand until they reach the seabed, along with their toxins, they affect the seabed, corals, fish, wildlife and even water bodies. Everything happens slowly, decades after decades without stopping,” explained the leader of the Puerto Rico Detectorists Group, Nelson Figueroa Sánchez.
This marks the fifth sign implemented by CO, as a result of the successful campaign of Giving Tuesday 2021 “Enjoy with Conscience”, in which nine interpretive signs were made to encourage awareness and conservation of green areas in Puerto Rico.
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If you are interested in participating in one of these events, you can send an email to info@conservationopportunity.org or communicate directly with CO's media platforms at Instagram, Facebook y LinkedIn.
