Project Partner Organisation: TUVA Foundation www.tuva.org Contact TUVA

Rainforest Action Costa Rica

[This project has been completed]

History and Background

Rainforest Action Costa Rica (RACR) was the second project of the World Land Trust, and focused on the rainforests of Costa Rica, and in particular the Osa Peninsula - one of the top twenty areas of greatest biodiversity on earth. The Trust helped purchase 5,000 acres in the Esquinas Sector, which is now incorporated into Corcovado National Park.

To help save the Osa Peninsula and its tropical forests, WLT worked with Fundación Tierras Unidas Vecinales por el Ambiente, or the TUVA Foundation, whose Spanish acronym translates as "United Lands of Neighbours for the Environment". The project worked with local people, who are continuously under pressure to 'cash in' to commercial developers.

The Trust helped purchase 5,000 acres, but while land purchase for immediate protection is a priority, this is only one part of a total conservation effort. The needs of the local people must be taken into account at all times, and conservation by local landowners using mechanisms such as purchasing the conservation rights (easements) where land purchase is not an option was used extensively. Additionally, RACR linked conservation with the needs of the local people by:

• Providing employment and encouraging non-consumptive uses of the forests and its products;
• Promoting understanding of the importance of, and an enthusiasm for, tropical forests;
• Co-operating with Costa Rican National Parks System in the protection and management of identified zones;
• Assisting in ecotourism assessments and ensuring that development did not result in loss of tropical forest;
• Developing ecotourism for small groups, with a view to minimalising impact on the forest and its wildlife.

All land purchases have been made and funding for this project has now closed.