It's For The Monkeys and 60 School Children

It’s For The Monkeys and 60 School Children is a project that is near and dear to our hearts. This project is a continuation by expanding on a previous project called It’s For The Monkeys. That project was designed to help three different species of monkeys return to lands that were once cleared of its trees in the Delicias de Upala. La Reserva invited a local school group from the same village to help plant the last remaining trees for the project. The students were so excited to help that the planting crew, who were digging holes, could not keep up with the kids planting! There was so much excitement and activity from the planting party, a local landowner Fabio Trepovicht, a school teacher as well, approached our Executive Director, Roberta, inquiring about what was going on. She explained to him about La Reserva, the project and why the school kids were there helping. Fabio became instantly interested in LRFF’s work. He explained how he wanted to reforest the total area of his adjacent land that had been cleared many years before. The land is along the Guacalito River, valuable riparian habitat for species needing to access the water. By reforesting this section of river on his property it would also help reduce the erosion and keep the river from cutting into the banks.

Roberta decided this project would be a great way for the school children to take a more active role in implementing the reforestation project, besides just planting the trees. (Be sure to see the attached photos of previous educational programs LRFF has implemented) The kids could be responsible for starting the nursery, collecting the baby trees, learning to identify the species, and caring for them for the six months needed before planting. The children could also observe over time how the forest returns by following up with maintenance and monitoring, the school is directly across the street from the property. This is how the It’s For The Monkeys and 60 School Children project began.

At this point the project has received very little funding; however by getting this project funded we can continue to engage more landowners and communities in this process. As an organization we have been promoting this project on our social media and website. We have been looking for a corporate sponsor to fund it, but we are also hoping for a mix of funding by small individual donors. Our individual donors bring a passionate response and genuinely care about environmental education and habitat restoration. The more donors who become involved and lend support, the more people talk about the success of a project. We would like to thank our entire supporters who have donated to past projects, who know about our good work and commitment to the communities we work with. What we need is a way to connect these projects that have enormous benefits to the environment and the people who live nearby to a wider audience. We feel if more people hear about our work the more support we will receive to make a difference. How can loyal supporters of La Reserva and Global Giving help spread the word about how to reverse climate change to people who may not know?