Earth Month begins
Monday, April 22, 2024, will be Earth Day. We will be celebrating all month long with activities organized to benefit the waterways and ecosystems of the San Juan Bay estuary. This year's Earth Day theme is: Planet vs. Plastics.
Celebrate the start of the month with us, and join our aquatic waste manager, Cristina Ramirez, for the workshop, Plastics to Microplastics: Public Policy and Impacts; an illustration of the effects of plastic on our ecosystems and the steps we have taken to mitigate the problem.
The workshop will be held on Thursday, April 4th, at 7:00 pm via Zoom. Register here.
We will also have family activities, field trips, and more workshops on topics such as bird censuses, water quality, and coastal resilience.
See all the activities we have scheduled during the month of April at estuario.org/eventos.
And of course, we'll have Puerto Rico Water Quality Day!
Puerto Rico Water Quality Day
The sixteenth Puerto Rico Water Quality Day will be on Saturday, April 13, 2024, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am at a body of water near you.
Have you registered your group yet? It's time to attend the training workshop and pick up your water quality kit. Workshops are available from April 1st to 11th, across the island. Virtual workshops are also available. Sign up for your workshop today at: https://estuario.org/diadecalidaddeagua
Family day out at the County Lagoon Estuarine Nature Reserve
We're continuing Earth Month with a family day out! On Saturday, April 6, 2024, we'll have games, an interpretive tour (with Green Touch hours), a Puerto Rico Water Quality Day training workshop, and Estuary Cinema. We hope to see you there! Find more information at: estuary.org/events
Estuary Cinema
Estuary Cinema presents: Elemental ; Saturday, April 6, 2024, at 7:00 pm at Jaime Benítez Park in the Condado Lagoon Estuarine Nature Reserve. The film will be shown in Spanish with English subtitles. As always, this screening is free. Bring your blanket or chair!
Job opportunities
Estuary Resident Artists—Request for proposal – The Estuary Resident Artists create artistic expressions with the aim of engaging citizens in the conservation and restoration process of the estuary basin in a creative and culturally relevant way. Through dialogue and the exchange of ideas on the restoration and conservation of the estuarine ecosystem, the resident artists raise environmental awareness and facilitate the development of a resilient basin.
See more information at: estuary.org/jobs
Certification of scientific citizens
Below are the upcoming scheduled events. We add more activities regularly. See more information at: estuary.org/ccc
April 5 – Field Trip: Seed Collection; with Andreína Alexatos, arborist, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am at the Piñones State Forest
April 6 – Field trip: planting coastal vegetation; with Andreína Alexatos, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am at Shacks Beach, Isabela
April 9 – Thematic workshop: Ecological assessment of marine habitats: coral communities and seagrasses; with Daritzel Cintrón, coastal resilience coordinator, from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm via Zoom
April 11 – Field trip: monitoring coastal vegetation; with Andreína Alexatos, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am at the County Lagoon
April 12 – Field trip: ecological assessment of coral communities; with Daritzel Cintrón, from 8:00 am to 11:00 am at the County Lagoon
April 13 – Field trip: planting coastal vegetation; with Andreína Alexatos, from 8:30 am to 11:30 am in Aguada
Educational activities at the County Lagoon
Bring your school group to the Condado Lagoon Estuarine Nature Reserve! The Estuary is offering educational activities in Jaime Benítez Park, including interpretive tours, workshops, and other activities related to biodiversity, ecosystems, water quality, green infrastructure, and coastal resilience.
Spaces are available Monday through Friday, between 8:00 am and 12:00 pm, for groups of all levels (K-12), from public, private, or homeschool schools, with a maximum of 30 participants per activity. These activities count toward Green Contact hours.
To coordinate, write to us at: [email protected]
Media coverage
Brenda Torres Barreto. March 23, 2024. Water and peace. Opinion. El Nuevo Día. p.30.
Other activities
Last Wednesday, March 20, our aquatic waste manager, Cristina Ramírez, participated in the discussion, "Geographers in Conservation," as part of the Environmental Conservation course, GEOG 3585, offered by the Geography Department at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus. Cristina shared her experiences as a geographer in the field of conservation alongside Adriana González of the Sierra Club of Puerto Rico. We thank Professor Eliezer Nieves for extending this invitation.
Last Saturday, March 23, 50 volunteers planted approximately 1,500 coastal vegetation plants in Luquillo, in collaboration with the Northeast Ecological Corridor Coalition, EcoCulture, and Reforesta. Thanks to all the participants, Rocky from the Northeast Ecological Corridor Coalition, Mario García, Agnes Pagán, and Andreína Alexatos, who led the event.
Support us with your refund
When you make your individual contribution this 2024, support the Estuary with a tax refund. Look for the option “Contribution to the Special Fund for the San Juan Bay Estuary ” on line 1B of the “Refund” section . Read more here.
Weekly bacteriological monitoring
Assessment conducted on Thursday, March 28, 2024. We have a GREEN flag for County Lagoon. We recommend avoiding the area that exceeded the water quality parameter for enterococci Beach Action Value of 70 CFU/100 ML. Remember to avoid the water during rain events. Have a good weekend.
