Resources

Central American Tropical Forests Go Live Online

Internet users around the globe can now view live images from inside the nest of a pair of wild quetzals (a spectacular bird native to Central America), interact with local forest guides and researchers in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, and gain an appreciation of the important roles that tropical ecosystems play at local, regional, and global levels.

Cloud Forest Alive (Bosque Nuboso Vivo), launched by the Tropical Science Center of Costa Rica, with support from the World Bank, is the world's first live Internet site based in the tropical forests of Central America. Going to www.quetzalcam.org last Friday, for example, would have shown the live hatching of a quetzal eggs; the nestling is on view because of Wincam cameras donated by StarDot Technologies.




	Deep in the Monteverde region of the Tilarán Mountains in Costa Rica, a pair of Resplendent Quetzals has chosen to nest in a camera-equipped nestbox in the cloud forest. Go to http://www.quetzalcam.org/tour/qcam/ to watch as the camera captures live images of the endangered Quetzels raising their young

Cloud forest conservation is essential not only for the extraordinary wildlife endemic to this unique habitat, but also for the downslope rural communities that depend on the forest for their water supply. Visitors to the website learn, for example, that maintenance of forest corridors is critical to the survival of the magnificent but endangered quetzal, which migrates seasonally from highlands to lowlands—and which is a premier attraction for the thriving ecotourism industry in the Monteverde region of Costa Rica.

The project was implemented through the Netherlands-World Bank Environmental Partnership under the auspices of the Central American Commission for Sustainable Development in order to illustrate the principles behind the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor Initiative.

Visits to Cloud Forest Alive include:

QuetzalCam!: This is a live webcam in the forest, mounted in the nest of the Resplendent Quetzal, considered one of the world's most magnificent, culturally important, and endangered birds. QuetzalCam is now posting images of a nesting pair and their two eggs at 15-minute intervals. Infrared illumination provides images at night. This is believed to be the first time that nesting quetzals have been recorded on video; the project is capturing images every minute and archiving them for scientific research. This technologically and scientifically innovative project is subject to many challenges, from the difficulties of maintaining electronic equipment in the humid forest to the risk of losing the quetzals to predators.

Tropical HummingbirdCam: The HummingbirdCam is a live webcam in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in Costa Rica, which posts live photographs of tropical hummingbirds to the Internet, along with an online field guide to help Internet users identify any hummingbirds they see online.

The Cloud Forest Guide Center: Local guides and biologists in the forest of Central America will post weekly lessons (including photographs and information on natural history) from their forays into the tropical forest. The center archives all previous lessons for public access online, and gives the opportunity for Cloud Forest Alive website visitors to send questions and suggestions to the guides and biologists.

The Cloud Forest Laboratory: This feature describes ongoing ecology research and conservation efforts, and contains the weekly Monday Mystery Insect!, an online photograph of a cloud forest insect changed once a week. An online archive builds a library and provides access to the photographs of all insects that have been photographed in the forest; eventually this feature will post photographs of insects not yet identified or classified by local biologists.

Helpful links: For more information, visit www.cloudforestalive.org, www.bosquenubosovivo.org, or www.quetzalcam.org.