Restoring Forests in Guatuso, Alajuela, Costa Rica

Today a second notice arrived to remind me that a progress report was due and I’m very sorry for leaving you all hanging but I’ve been waiting for some vital information concerning this project so that I could pass it on to you.

I posted this project initially in mid 2012…a lot of time has passed since then and consequently the majority of the six landowners who wanted to participate have changed plans for their land or even passed away. Aware of this, Matt Lee, the president of LRFF, and I met a couple of weeks ago and decided that we could revise the “Reforesting Guatuso” project and include only Jeffrey Lacayo’s property at the Maleku Palenque Sol. I told Matt it was small enough that we might have enough funds to implement it with the donations we have received to day and the roll over of funds from another project we want to deactivate for the same reason.

That’s where we stand currently with this project, waiting for the land measurement to be confirmed by Jeffrey. I talked to him and he wants to go on but things move real slowly in Costa Rica. When I get the land area to be planted I can revise the budget for the area, amount of trees, fencing, labor, etc. You will see the new project and will be the first to know when we can begin the nursery and start planting. 

While we wait for the “Reforesting Guatuso” project to receive full funding we are definitely not standing still here in Costa Rica. Want to know what we’ve been up to down here? 

LRFF planted 8000 trees in only two months, July to September 2014 and the Maleku indigenous tribe (our planting partners) held their annual Cultural Festival in early October.

Planting 8000 Trees

A project previously posted on GlobalGiving, “For The Monkeys” and funded by Strack Premier Transportation was planted (7000 trees) in July with the help of the local school children in Delicias de Upala.

Another small project of 900 trees was planted the first week of September. We planted Helen Hollenbeck's trees September 8th at Nicida Elizondo's property in Palenque Margarita, Maleku Indigenous Reserve, Guatuso. It was a super hot day, full sun and there were 6 of us planting. YES me too! Shouting out a BIG thanks to Beth Hollenbeck for her generous donation to fully fund this project in honor of her late sister, Helen.

Helen was one of LRFF's first supporters, when I founded the organization in 2005 in Costa Rica. She was instrumental in putting together our first, local fundraiser at the nearby "party house". She continued to support our projects until her death almost two years ago. She now has a one-hectare forest along the Rio Sol adjacent to the 35 hectare Rio Sol Biological Corridor project planted in 2011 - 2012 (35,000 trees) and it holds her spirit. These 900+ trees will sequester and store more than 20 metric tons of GHG emissions each year.

We finished the planting by 3 pm and then went to pay Nicida for the trees she raised in her nursery for the six months prior to planting. We planted over 95 native species. 

Maleku Cultural Festival

My family, the Maleku indigenous tribe have their annual cultural festival every October, the first weekend. I haven't attended since 2010 but made it a priority this year.  I didn't get many photos but my friend, Hiqui Maleku posted Ricardo Araya's professional quality photos and I wanted to share them with you...

See photos below of the beautiful artwork and various competitive events…bow and arrow, firewood carrying and the Chicha drinking contest. Chicha is the Maleku version of wine or beer, made of fermented Yuca (Cassava), Corn or even Pineapple. This year the contestants were all women and Daisy won by drinking a large bowl in less than 45 seconds. Click to see the video.

Next year join us the first week of October and see you there! In the meantime…

LET’S GET PLANTING!

Links:

• Planting Commune Utopia Trees