[Taxacom] [mel_e] Merry Christmas from Nicaragua

[Jean-Michel]

Dear friends and collegues,

Christmas time is always a good opportunity to send news and greetings.

In the Entomological Museum of León, for the collegue entomologists, various publications are already ready to publish. The longhorn catalogue has been set in the web page (www.bio-nica.info  section Revista de Entomologia). Some field work has made the time too short for lab work and publication writing. We are still working on Data Base, planning with InBio of Costa Rica the possibility of automatization of mapping and other data output. In addition to the butterflies and Leaf beetles study field trips, we had the pleasure to organize 2 field trips for international colleagues, which gave us the opportunity of new contacts and friendship. The program of Field trips for 2011 will be available soon on our web site, in Field Trip section. For the institutions and friends with whom we have journal exchange, the Revista Nicaraguense de Entomología has a serious editorial delay, 2008, 2009 and 2010 are to be print, we hope to fill the gap in the beginning of 2011, part of the material is already available on-line.

In the Web page, we always have available the Virtual Library (focus on Nicaragua) and the world catalogues of Stag Beetles (Lucanidae).

This year we have working strongest on Entomo-Philately, getting many new exchange friends and this way, lots of enveloppes and covers on insects and butterflies topic. First results can be appreciated on out Ento-Filatelia section of the web site, mostly the countries from A to D, that have been actualized up to the end of 2009. Any enveloppe with insect logo or illustration is of course still welcome.

At the academic level, 2010 was a great year, with the consolidation of the Nicaraguan Sciences Academy, all countacts with other Nations Sciences Academies are more than wecome.

Back to Environment, our NGO ALAS, Alianza para las Areas Silvestres worked in 2010 mainly on Pine-oak forest conservation in the North of Nicaragua, Environment Education with primary and secondary schools in different Departments of the Pacific side of Nicaragua and the study of birds, mainly a couple of species, Dendroica chrysoparia and Vermivora chrysoptera. The Nicaraguan birds field guide is going well, with the financial help of GTZ, we hope to print the plates volume at the end of 2011.

Thanks to all friends who have made possible those initiatives. We wish to everybody a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2011. Hope you may enjoy and have fun with all your activities in this New Year.

					Jean-Michel Maes
					jmmaes at ibw.com.ni
					jmmaes at yahoo.com 
					www.bio-nica.info