Paso Pacifico

Paso Pacífico is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to protecting endangered forests and wildlife along the Pacific slope of Central America.

Since 2005, Paso Pacífico has worked to conserve the human-fragmented ecosystems of the Paso del Istmo biological corridor in southwestern Nicaragua. We started working in El Salvador in 2018. Ultimately, our goal is to reconnect forests, preserve the ocean and work alongside the local people to transform the country’s damaged landscape into a vibrant wildlife corridor that sustains plants, animals and community from land to sea.

Nicaragua boasts some of the world's highest levels of biodiversity with over 18,000 species that inhabit a range of habitats, from marine-coastal to dry forest. Yet, due to the country's poverty and unstable government, its natural resources have been abused for many years. El Salvador is a world-class surfing destination that also has poverty and civil struggles, and is the most densely populated nation in Central America. Paso Pacífico aims to reverse natural degradation with a number of community-based programs, which include:

• reforestation
• eco-tourism
• sustainable agriculture
• wildlife research
• protection of endangered species
• environmental education

By working with the community, Paso Pacifico ensures a pattern of environmental stewardship in each new generation. We teach children that the animals in their backyards are globally important and that they must act as environmental leaders. In our efforts to protect coastal-marine environments, we have provided training and hired local residents as community rangers to protect nesting sea turtles.

So far Paso Pacifico's efforts have yielded huge results! We are pleased to report that we have prevented thousands of critically endangered Leatherback and Hawksbill turtle eggs from being poached. Our hallmark climate change mitigation program, Return to Forest, has reforested habitats vital to Central America's native species. To date, the Return to Forest project has planted 250,000 native trees and will sequester 150,000 tons of carbon over the next 40 years. This project was the third project globally to receive a gold ranking of the Climate, Community, and Biodiversity Standard and carbon offset credits from this project are sold by our partners at Carbonfund.org on the US Voluntary Market.

Our headquarters are located in Ventura, California, and organizational operations are located in Nicaragua and El Salvador.