The beauties and diversity of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve, located in the Virgen de Sarapiquí in Heredia, will fill the corners of the Casa de los Comandantes Room of the National Museum of Costa Rica (MNCR). It is a graphic display of 27 medium-format photographs of butterflies, bats and birds, entitled “Alas de Sarapiquí”, by photographer Emmanuel Rojas Valerio.
“With this exhibition we also wish to reflect the decades of research efforts to generate valuable scientific information about these groups, which has been transmitted for many years to the national and international public through Emmanuel’s photographs and, through, Education programs. Environmental and Ecotourism in Tirimbina” expressed Branko Hilje, academic director of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve.
Observing the diversity present in the Tirimbina Biological Reserve
Through this photographic tour, the public observed the diversity present in the Tirimbina Biological Reserve, focused on the three groups of animals most studied in the reserve: butterflies, bats and birds.
“In turn, we use the example of Emmanuel’s life to show how knowledge can transform our lives and give us wings to advance toward our goals,” added Mariela García, in charge of environmental education at Tirimbina Biological Reserve.
In addition, the exhibition represents the work that Emmanuel Rojas Valerio has done for a long time, in the Academic Department of Tirimbina, where many of his findings and observations are documented through photographs.
Rojas has a lot of experience photographing nature, his work is Tirimbina outreach material and his personal story reflects the change that this organization wants to promote to encourage the conservation of our natural resources.
The life of this photographer was “transformed” by the knowledge that others transmitted to him, of someone who caught birds to sell them; to an empirical biologist, nature lover and conservationist.
Today, this 40-year-old man spreads the knowledge that he generates with his research, to the communities through his photographs and the dissemination that is given to them in the Tirimbina school environmental education program.
