The Batipa Field Institute is a field study facility that is developed as part of Oteima University. BFI facilitates the intensive hands on study of the environmental sciences, as well as agricultural studies. The site itself contains a mix of uses that presents very unique opportunities for interdisciplinary studies of sustainability. Furthermore, the Gualaca Latitudinal Corridor traverses the Ng
obe Bugle Comarca, providing many opportunities for cultural studies and community conservation work with the indigenous people of the Comarca that is complementary to conservation, agriculture and sustainability issues. The Batipa Field Institute is located on a 4,000 hectare, private peninsula surrounded by the Pacific ocean and river mouths. The property contains a 600 hectare wildlife preserve, wildlife rehabilitation center and arterial wildlife corridors that link the Gualaca Altitudinal Corridor to the peninsula. BFI also contains 2,000 hectares of wild mangroves, 1,100 hectares of teak production, and 1,000 hectares dedicated to bovine genetic research. There are miles of trails and transects bisecting this peninsula. By taking on and staffing year round conservation projects such as the rehabilitation center, reforestation project, primate behavior, and the habitat use studies, there is the permanent research foundation for educational programs that is often lacking at other sites. The BFI gives us a virtual outdoor laboratory to study conservation biology. We are already engaged in studying the effects of sustainable teak management strategies and how their use could contribute to an ecological network by using teak as buffers between more intensive agriculture areas and wildlife corridors. We have also completed studies on primate cognition and rehabilitation that are currently being edited for publication.
