Angel's Fruit Forest for the Maleku, Costa Rica

Make a difference—today. Donate to La Reserva Forest Foundation (LRFF) to give a new lease to life in the deforested parklands of the Rio Sol Bio Corridor in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. In 2011, we successfully raised funds to put over 35,000 new trees in the ground. Our newest objective is to add value to this tree count by nursing and planting 3,500 native fruit-, seed-, and nut-bearing trees. With holistic forest management approaches, we hope to augment the 2011 planting project with 100 unique tree species, distributed over nearly 3.5 hectares.

For generations, this new agroforestry project will contribute nutritional and medicinal value to indigenous Costa Rican citizens, especially the tribeswomen and men of the Maleku (Vinding et al., 1998). More trees will also increase local habitat for important forest-dwelling animals, increase connectivity between habitats, water retention volumes, and topsoil (Paquette and Messier, 2010). Ecosystem-degrading erosion and environemtnal pressureswill fall, and a sustainable forest life can proceed, care-free, in bloom. Help us meet – or better, exceed – this goal, and contribute to an important reforestation initiative supporting traditional, rural Costa Rican livelihoods and socially-responsible community development.

Since 2007, La Reserva has allied with the Earth’s most important life-giving ecosystems: the tropical rainforests. In our mission to boost Costa Rica’s global leadership in sustainability (Harvard, 2008), we have designed and implemented many regional-scale reforestation projects, invigorating hundreds of hectares of clear-cut forest and disseminating – like seeds – a message of growth, stability, and biological resilience.

Each year, La Reserva continues to broaden its reach and resources, boost its brand, and advance its reforestation services. With the help of our indigenous arborists, organizers, and educators, as well as our pro bono partner consultants, we are gaining serious momentum. Help us maintain it; every dime counts. Your donation will financially go a long way toward meeting our organization goals, continuing routine tree nursery maintenance and plantings, developing and enhancing education outreach initiatives, and mobilizing a global citizenry around core social, economic, and environmental values.

In an age of interconnectedness, offering our love, kindness, and allegiance to Earth’s natural allies has never been more vital. As the planet gains weight, its temperature steadily rises, and deforestation persists on the scale of continents, we cannot proceed listlessly, without genuine purpose. In the light of the heat, now is our time to reassess: to imagine the possibility, and speed, for realizing a low-carbon economy. La Reserva Forest Foundation welcomes you to support our work, and we are indelibly grateful to those who have already. Donate today, become a sustained member, and never regret your place on the right side of history.

          —Z. H. Anthony

References:

Harvard University. 2008. “Costa Rica take carbon neutrality challenge.” Harvard University Center for the Environment, Cambridge, Mass. Online.

Paquette, A. and C. Messier. 2010. The role of plantations in managing the world’s forests in the Anthropocene. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 8: 27–34. Online.

Vinding, D., A. Gray, A. Parellada. 1998. From Principles to Practice: Indigenous Peoples and Biodiversity Conservation in Latin America. International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). pp. 234-37. Print.