Today was our last day in San Miguel with Turtle Trax. Throughout our time here, we have met and learned from many ethical leaders. One of the leaders who has made the biggest impact on us is Juan, who has been with us for every activity this week and also played a lot of soccer with us. He sets a great example of a leader who both cares for those around him and the work he does, and he has made relationships with every person on this trip. We will definitely miss him and the rest of the turtle trax team. They have all been so welcoming and willing to teach us about turtles and their ecosystems, as well as how we can help with the problem back at home. We hope they have more success with finding turtles in the coming weeks!
Another one of the ethical leaders we met was one of the locals who was part of a reforestation effort in San Miguel named Edgar. He taught us a lot about local plants and animals, but he also taught us about how they were being affected by climate change. One of his main frustrations was with palm oil companies, and how they were a huge part of deforestation in Costa Rica and other areas. So many different products use palm oil, such as Oreos, and it is really difficult for big companies like that to use environmentally conscious materials.
