Earlier this month, Costa Rica made the historic decision to outlaw recreational hunting. It will be the first country in the Americas to ban the sport. The law aims to protect the nation’s wildlife, an important move as Costa Rica is said to possess 4% of the world’s biodiversity. Costa Rica is a country with many rural inhabitants and as such, the new law will still permit hunting for food.

A very interesting, recent study is showing the advantages of educating rural Canadians about emergency medicine. The article talks about the Sachigo Lake Wilderness Emergency Response Education Initiative, through which researchers and first aid specialists have come together to help an indigenous community learn about ways to provide medical support when major facilities are not easily accessible.   The results have been generally positive. Members of the community are understanding the real-world implications of this sort of education and demonstrating their ability to react in case of emergency. Here at Outward Bound Costa Rica, our Leadership Semester students are currently studying to be Wilderness First Responders. Hopefully they too will be able to draw on their skills when necessary!

If you haven’t heard by now about Austrian Felix Baumgartner’s recent, epic jump from a balloon in space to the Earth’s surface, you’ve probably been living under a rock. More than skydiving, Baumgartner traveled 24 miles and reached a speed of 833 miles per hour before landing safely in a New Mexican desert. The whole event took less than 5 minutes. Talk about extreme sports! We’re glad he made it back to Planet Earth safely.