03 / Apr / 2023

Environmental Education

After 20 years of promoting environmental education, we can testify to the impact of education on communities and their ecosystems. We are celebrating 20 years of building awareness and educating boys and girls on protecting Costa Rica’s fragile environment.

Since 2003, over 3000 children from 25 communities have directly benefited from our programs.  Foundation staff and volunteers teach classes, workshops, and activities that connect kids with the environment. We teach them to appreciate nature as a fragile ecosystem of precious life and essential resources — neither of which can be squandered.

If you have a minute, we invite you to watch our celebratory video.

Creating livelihoods for people in Drake Bay

We continue to support 13 families who are working on regenerative agriculture farms. Our organization provides volunteers and team members to help maintain the farms. In addition, we are building, designing, and developing three model farms to promote and educate the community on regenerative agriculture. We understand that cattle farming can be harmful to ecosystems, so we strive to educate others on more sustainable practices.

For years, there has been a lot of talk about the need to stop consuming meat as a means of preventing rainforest deforestation. While there is truth to this, local communities depend heavily on this economic activity. Therefore, the foundation has made it a top priority for 2023 to find ways to improve this practice.

Our organization has been learning from other communities and institutions that promote holistic cattle farming. This practice aims to protect the soil, reduce the space required for feeding cattle, and capture carbon dioxide and methane in the ground. These techniques will not only enhance the community’s quality of life, but will also help mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Restoration Projects

Since 2020 our organization has been promoting reforestation and ecosystem restoration in different areas of the country. Some of our projects are considered very avant-garde approaches to issues such as mangrove destruction and damage remediation. For example, we are restoring the mangrove ecosystem that was removed to build a salt mine. The hydrological engineering involved is an example in the country. Additionally, we are working with people in a community in Puntarenas that is now producing honey from mangrove flowers. Not only is this promoting mangrove pollination, but it’s also generating income for the community based on natural solutions.

• In the La Amistad International Park, the Corcovado Foundation will implement a binational project for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), restoring 300 hectares of farmland in Costa Rica and Panama.
• In Barra del Colorado, the foundation is leading the community extension program of the ministry of environment in the region by strengthening grassroots organizations such as associations and chambers to promote tourism production and community involvement in environmental monitoring.
• We are also in the process of negotiating funding for Corcovado National Park to improve its trails and improve the safety and quality of the experience of visitors to the park.

Last but not least, In July 2023 we will restart our sea turtle conservation program in Punta Mala. The foundation is in negotiations with a larger entity to secure support for improving the infrastructure of the protected area. This will result in better accommodation for our volunteers.