By: Jack Ewing.
“We don’t even have any iguanas in Dominical,” ranted the irate lady. “Whenever an iguana shows its face around here a couple of kids start chasing it and throwing rocks and he,” pointing to the local policeman, “will be right there with them trying to shoot it.”
Those words were uttered by one of the founding members of the Amigos de la Naturaleza de Dominical (ANADO) in 1987.
Three years later, at the second membership meeting, someone noted that several iguanas were basking on the branches of some nearby trees. At that meeting, the name of the organization was changed to ASANA. In 1990, the group founded a long-term project called the Path of the Biological Corridor (PTBC), which works to create natural connections between large nature reserves thus facilitating the movement of wildlife throughout the area.
The return to the PTBC of species once locally extinct, testifies to the success of the project. In areas where there was once only one species of monkey, there are now four. The return of pumas is a clear indication that the ecosystem is healthy enough to support large carnivores. Scarlet Macaws are often seen in many parts of the corridor after having been absent since the 1960s. And tapirs have been sighted in a number of locations.
Today, ASANA works through the ‘Consejo Local’ for the PTBC, a group that includes many organizations and businesses from within the corridor. Due to the hard work of ASANA and the ‘Consejo,’ the PTBC is one of the few places on our planet where biodiversity is on the increase.
