Help La Reserva Grow Forests, Costa Rica

This past December the local biological corridor council for Lake Arenal and Tenorio Volcano received a grant from the United Nations Small Grant Program. Since the council didn’t have non-profit status as yet LRFF has acted as an “umbrella” for them and is administering the funds. Part of the agreement is that LRFF “counter share” an equal amount of the grant donated work along with the local council. I, Roberta, am the acting coordinator for the council and Daniel Spreen is an active member. Our task, according to the work plan, is to give presentations to four of the local schools near La Reserva, plus create a seedling nursery, and bring the children up to La Reserva to collect seedlings that are then planted immediately in the new nursery. The students will care for the seedlings for six months and plant them in a reforestation project in their community that they will decide upon. This past week we finished giving the presentations to all of the schools. Thursday, March 11, Daniel, Rusty Holzheimer and Omar Muñoz helped the students at Parcelas create their small seedling nursery. On Friday the students were supposed to arrive by bus down at the corner. Rusty, Dan and I got in the car to go escort them, walking, up the hill to La Reserva. When we got out to the gate there was a full bus, standing room only, of children from 9 to 12 years of age. There were over 50 of them counting the three teachers and director of the school. WE WERE INVADED BY A SCREAMING MASS OF FLESH!!!! The bus dumped them at the entrance, we put each students name on a plastic bag and told them to collect five tree seedlings each. When they had five they were to give the small bag to Omar. He then put all of the bags in two large grain sacks to be carried over to the school immediately afterward, and planted in the new nursery. Down the road we went (see photos) with all of the children pulling up all kinds of plants, bringing them to us and asking “Roberta, sirve esto?”. When everyone had their baby trees they sat down in the road and had a snack. Omar (he is a Parcelas resident and father of two students) wanted to take all of them down to see Papa Loco, the giant Ceiba (Kapok) tree. He took the lead, I stayed in the middle of the group and Daniel brought up the rear. I was a bit worried about snakes or other varmints that might want to bite the kids, then realized there was no need to worry because EVERY LIVING THING IN THE FOREST would be high tailing it away from that screaming, laughing, running and cacophonous mob. When we returned the bus driver had gone back to the village and brought a big cooler full of hot rice with sausages (chorizo). The teachers served it with beet salad and coke. Everyone sat on the ground eating a nice lunch. What a party!! After lunch they all loaded back on the bus, Rusty, Omar and I got in Rusty’s car and followed them back. All the way over, in front of us, hands were grabbing branches and the screaming continued. The cows in the pastures stared as this screaming mass as we passed several farms. The sun blazed down upon us, at midday, as we planted the 250+ seedlings in their little containers that will be their homes until they are big and strong enough to plant out. You know, even though we were all over-heated and tired of the melee, as I rested that afternoon a smile kept creeping onto my face with a giggle, as I saw the mental image of us adults in the middle of that screaming mass of flesh. This coming Tuesday, March 16th, Global Giving will be matching all donations by 30% up to $1000 per donor. Please help LRFF continue our work in educating the communities that are responsible for restoring the tropical forests of the world and creating biological corridors to connect up the “forest islands” here in the tropical belt around our Earth. COME ON EVERYBODY, LET’S GET PLANTING!!

Links:

• Arbor Day blog
• A Warm and Fuzzy Story for You
• LRFF Volunteer Stories