Since its inception in January 2021, Conservation Opportunity announced its third lap around the sun, marking the most productive year with activities and collaborations throughout Puerto Rico.
The non-profit organization, Conservation Opportunity (CO), was able to carry out 25 activities in its third year in Puerto Rico that had an impact on nature and the development of professionals in the field of conservation. Recent projects, such as the beach pickups, work in agriculture, fishing event and the short film of “The environment through my eyes”The "The "The Development and Outreach" program highlights the development and outreach within the nonprofit entity.
“We are very excited, we are growing more and more as a team, also, in an effective way, how to manage the organization as well as projects,” said CO founder Fabiola Torres.
Since its conception, the nonprofit has experimented with the ability to reach a larger audience with more media interaction, which has allowed for new events to be developed with even greater reach in 2023.
CO installed a total of eight signs this past year of the successful Giving Tuesday 2021 campaign, Enjoy with Conscience. These were implemented in municipalities such as Aguada, Yabucoa, Salinas, Arecibo, San Juan, Ciales, Toa Alta and Vieques.
In addition, 10 beach cleanups were conducted throughout Puerto Rico in which more than 12,370 pounds of trash and debris were removed. The municipalities where the most debris was found were Salinas, with 4 tons (8,818.49 pounds); Aguada, with more than 1,000 pounds; and Arecibo (Caño Tiburones) with 630 pounds.
The entity even managed to have public viewing slots with the appearance on WPAB 550 AM - ECO 93.1 FM on the program of Environmental Agenda and the Love Letter to El Yunque which Torres presented in conjunction with the Hispanic Access Foundation's Hispanic Access Foundation series “Love Letters: Love Letters to our Rivers”.”.
Over 44 collaborations were established with different Puerto Rican entities, such as Marine Environment Society, La Perla School Farm, Puerto Rico South, among others. The founder and director of the organization Sociedad Ambiente Marino, Samuel Suleiman Ramos, said that the opportunities offered by CO in its social networks have had a “very effective and protagonist” performance in the community that seeks to conserve the island's natural resources.
“I've had the pleasure of having a project (with CO), particularly the 360-degree project we inaugurated last year,” he added.
In addition, Suleiman said that the collaborative work carried out with Conservation Opportunity was very effective, efficient and smooth, which reflects the kind of dynamic that occurs between collaborations with the organization.
The Project 360 is one that seeks to connect people with nature in a virtual reality educational environment.
The nonprofit's collaborations extended to the creation of a documentary in mid-October, “The Environment Through My Eyes.” It is there that they outlined the “Hookeate con la Pesca” activity, done to raise awareness about the challenges faced by the hearing-impaired community. An effort that began in 2022, which Decenia Vega Rodríguez, the president of Finca Semila in Barceloneta, recalled as she reflected on her continued collaboration with the entity.
“The organization is really excellent. The communication of the staff is very professional and very friendly. They are really attentive to all the details, so that's why we like to collaborate a lot. Above all, the experience that we work with the deaf community (realized in 2022), because it is something we wanted to do and we did it,” said Vega Rodríguez.
Likewise, more than 370 different opportunities were published through social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) y LinkedIn.
With these media resources, individuals such as Julio Campis, Andres Perez, Fabian Feliciano, Daniela Aviles and others were able to gain positions in local and international environmental fields.
“A colleague sent me a job offer he saw through Conservation Opportunity on LinkedIn. And I look and these requirements I read them and they fit with what I studied, just like the opportunity was located in Puerto Rico. I said, let's give it a try. I took advantage and went to talk to my program manager and applied,” Andrés Pérez emphasized about how he got his job opportunity.
“My goal is to work in biology, whether it's federal agencies, universities or other entities. The opportunity Conservation Opportunity gave me will help me little by little to get the job I'm looking for. Just as you gain experience later on to get a bigger job. Also, when I see the organization's publications, I send them to my colleagues,” said Fabian Feliciano about CO's opportunities.
The organization's team of volunteers donated around 1,090 hours of labor in activities such as beach cleanups, network management, communication, event development, green contact, among others.
In addition to this, CO stresses the importance of the contributors in fulfilling its mission as an organization and certifying that its values are directed towards the conservation of natural resources.
Therefore, to obtain the state tax exemption, it is necessary to 1101.01 and the federal 501c3, which makes it possible for donations to the organization to be presented as a legal deductible on the next tax return, was presented as “great news” for the development of the organization.
“The mission that CO has makes visible all the opportunities that exist within the environmental and conservation area. It makes you feel a personal connection to the goals of the nonprofit,” said Rafael Saavedra, a science professional and long-time donor to the organization.
Saavedra knows in advance those who lead and develop CO, which gives him the satisfaction of trusting in the work that the organization does. He also stressed the importance of each donation as a powerful and transformative act. In his vision, each donor becomes a vital part of the fabric of the organization, contributing to its ability to make a difference in environmental conservation. He shared the belief that, as individuals, we all have the responsibility and power to do our bit, creating a ripple effect that extends far beyond our individual actions.
According to the founder of Conservation Opportunity, in 2024, they will continue to work to advance the organization and its mission. Currently the nonprofit is run by volunteers, but they have a vision of eventually offering paid positions within the organization that will push the organization to another level of commitment to professional development and conservation of natural resources.
“We thank our volunteers, donors and organizations that have supported us to make this all possible,” Torres said.
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Interested in participating in one of our events? Send an email to info@conservationopportunity.org or contact CO's media platforms directly at Instagram, Facebook y LinkedIn. You can also join our mailing list by filling out this form. form, so that you can receive notifications about activities directly to your email.