• Protect the ecological integrity of the Monteverde Cloudforest Preserve, by collaborating with the Tropical Science Center, the nonprofit organization that manages the Preserve, and by helping to purchase key pieces of forest habitat on the Preserve´s borders.

• Ensure a harmonious relationship with Preserve neighbours, by helping the community plan a future that provides quality existence for people and wildlife.

In this section

• The Monteverde-Gulf of Nicoya Biological Corridor

• Environmental Education Program

• San Luis Community Paper Recycling Project

• Monteverde Waste Recycling Program

HELP FRIENDS PURCHASE A KEY PIECE OF
THE MONTEVERDE-GULF OF NICOYA BIOLOGICAL CORRIDOR.

FRIENDS makes down-payment on Key Piece of Land We need your help to purchase a key piece in the Monteverde-Gulf of Nicoya Biological Corridor, where a member of Friends recently made a down payment of -- $10-thousand dollars, for the purchase of a half-forested farm (approximately 100 hectares) that will facilitate altitudinal migrations between the Monteverde Preserve and the Pacific Coast. We need to raise $ 80-thousand before the first half of 2006, to finish paying for this land and place it under the management of the TSC. Our Goal is to protect and promote the natural growth of forested areas and other natural ecosystems in the designated corridor, so that wildlife species in the region can migrate along altitudinal gradients between the Tilarán Mt. Range and the Coast, in response to their subsistence needs.

WHAT IS THE MONTEVERDE- NICOYA BIOLOGICAL CORRIDOR…?

• The Monteverde-Gulf of Nicoya Biological Corridor was started in 1990 when different studies concluded that several animal species, among them the Resplendent Quetzal, required migrating temporally in search of food and shelter from the well-protected cloud forests of the Monteverde Preserve downwards to the unprotected patches of forests in the lowlands of the Pacific Coast.

• In an effort to provide the natural conditions required for such altitudinal migrations by forest dependent species in the region, the Tropical Science Center scientifically designed an ecological corridor connecting forested areas, secondary forests, pastures and fluvial systems, joining the Preserve to the Coast. Since then it has become clearer that biological corridors can dramatically increase the viability of an area´s species and ecosystems.

• The Land Purchasing Program: In the last 10 years with the help of donors from the United States and Europe, the TSC has been able to purchase 4 key properties in the Corridor. One of them became the San Luis Biological Station, 240 hectares located in the center of the Corridor, purchased with the help of the German Foundation Deutsches Tierhilfwerk e.V. At the time of purchase it had 40% forest cover; presently it has 98%.

• Programs that Support the Corridor: The Monteverde Corridor is becoming established through a number of initiatives designed to support its development, which include:

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Environmental Education Program.

Thousands of children educated…

The Monteverde Cloudforest Preserve has been reaching out to thousands of children in the area with environmental education for more than 15 years. Our programs try to provide school children with a practical understanding of how forests work, especially cloudforests in the area, and how to manage natural resources so that they continue to serve future generations.

Two specialists, Mercedes Díaz and Sarah Burbank visit the 4th, 5th and 6th grades of 6 elementary schools regularly – once a month, with sessions all day. “Despite our experience and innovative methodology, which includes the Traveling Box Educational Kit, the demand exceeds our capacity”, states Mercedes, program director.

Our Goal: 23 Schools in the area

Our goal now is to include all 23 schools in the Monteverde region and the Biological Corridor San Luis-Gulf of Nicoya, where hundreds of species of fauna and flora are increasingly threatened by deforestation and intensive cattle ranching.

How can we reach out to provide more education?..., when already we are stretched to the limit?

a.) Budgetary needs include a vehicle for the program in order to reach the more distant schools throughout this mountainous region of Monteverde.

b.) We hope to increase to four environmental educators.

If you would like to help finance our efforts to educate the children of MV and the Biological Corridor, to help protect the fragile ecosystems in and around the cloud forests and the natural resources on which their communities depend, you may want to contribute towards our program goal: we are working to raise $ 44,000.

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San Luis Community Paper Recycling Project.

A group of women in the community of San Luis, neighbor to Monteverde, started one of the first and most successful community efforts, the San Luis Paper Recycling Project, with the help of the Monteverde Preserve and the Tropical Science Center.

The project is a creative response by San Luis, to the urgent need to deal with waste products which for years have been deposited in the region´s watersheds, buried in the forests or burnt to the sky.

It also provides a supplementary source of income to at least 12 persons in the community, primarily headed by women, who are chronically faced with conditions of poverty.

Presently 11 women and 1 men collect paper from schools, stores and hotels in the area and turn it into a diversity of paper products, applying locally developed artisan technology. So far, over 10 tons of waste paper have produced more than 20,000 hand bags, decorated with symbols of the flora and fauna of the region. Other recycled paper articles which are showing up more and more in the local tourist stores are greeting cards and notebooks.

This project got underway with start-up funds from the TSC and technical assistance, by way of building most of the workshop and equipment, and a $20 thousand donation from the Small Grants Fund of the United Nations Development Programme.

WE NEED MORE SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS LIKE SAN LUIS…
This project is now economically sustainable and the TSC would like to develop similar ones in other communities to deal with waste and provide income improvement for the less fortunate in the community.

YOU CON HELP! Our goal is $20,000. yearly for community projects.

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Monteverde Waste Recycling Program.

As part of its mission to educate for the proper management of natural resources, the TSC supports sustainable development community projects in communities where protected areas are located. The Waste Collection Program is one of those community projects that responds to a clearly identified problem with a high potential for environmental education and comunity-wide participation.

78 Tons of Waste

Established in 1996 by the TSC and the Monteverde Community, by 2003 the Recycling program had collected 78 tons of waste recyclable materials, primarily from the communities surrounding the Preserve. Such effort yielded further results this year when the Municipal Council bought a piece of land (approximately 2,000 ft²) to locate a proposed waste collection center (cost: $20 thousand dollars) for classification and compaction of thrash.

Student Involvement

As awareness increases concerning the impact of thrash and other forms of contamination on the environment, The Waste Recycling Program becomes more of a community affair. Presently, the Monteverde High School students volunteer their time to collect and separate waste on the land bought by the municipality, and the Monteverde Preserve provides transportation. As the municipal council becomes better established, it expects to buy thrash collecters and trucks.

Presently, this project needs funds to pay for the waste collection center and thrash collection for 1 year. Waste collection Center: $20,000; Collection: $5,000.

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