Project Overview: Community-Based Conservation
The key element of any conservation strategy is engaging and empowering the local community. If the people who live alongside sloths are not invested in protecting them, then any attempt to conserve them will be short-lived.
While there is a great respect for wildlife among local communities in Costa Rica, many people just lack the tools, knowledge or resources to live in environmentally sustainable ways.
This is where we come in. Just like the natural world, our projects are designed to be cyclical and interconnected. We work closely with local communities to facilitate win-win scenarios by cultivating conditions that are beneficial to both humans and sloths.
Developing sustainable ways in which humans and sloths can coexist.
Connected Gardens
The Connected Gardens Project empowers community members to ensure that every single property in a given area maintains canopy connectivity with neighboring properties.
Sloth Crossings
This project aims to give sloths and other arboreal animals a safe way to travel by installing Sloth Crossing canopy bridges across roads and between habitat fragments in disturbed areas.
Sloth Friendly Network
Through the Sloth Friendly Network we incentivize and endorse community members in Costa Rica who promote responsible tourism and contribute to the conservation of biodiversity.
Education Outreach
Our outreach workshops aim to connect children to nature, and to equip them with the knowledge and skills necessary to identify environmental challenges in their communities related to the conservation of sloths.
Sustainable Sloth Tourism
Highlighting the dark side of “sloth selfies” and the illegal pet trade through international campaigns, and promoting responsible sloth tourism locally through signage and collaborations with local businesses.
Dog Sterilization
The ‘Oh My Dog’ project aims to reduce the number of dog attacks on wildlife through sterilization programs, responsible pet ownership campaigns and habitat restoration initiatives.
Power Line Insulation
Preventing wildlife electrocutions by funding the raw materials needed to insulate electricity lines, poles and transformers in collaboration with the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE).
Research
Expanding our knowledge of sloth ecological requirements by funding, coordinating and publishing high quality research into many different aspects of sloth biology and ecology.
Sloth Release
Can an orphan sloth that has been hand-reared in a rescue center survive after being released into the wild? We assist with the post-release monitoring of radio-collared sloths after being released into the wild.
As a non-profit organisation, we rely on your support to make our work possible.
PLEASE NOTE: The Sloth Conservation Foundation is not a sanctuary or rescue center and is not open to the public. SloCo is a non-profit organisation that specializes in the conservation and research of wild sloths. Our dream is to prevent sloths from ever needing rescue by tackling the problems that these animals are facing in the wild.
