Savegre Forever!

ASANA continues to plug along and do the best it can with the limited resources it has to help conserve the Savegre River Watershed.   The main focus of our efforts over the past few months has been to secure significant funding through local institutional donors here in Costa Rica.  This, ironically, has been quite a challenge…. Let me explain a little of the context…

For those for you who are not fully aware of the “business” of global conservation, historically the “Big International Non-Governmental Organizations” (or affectionately known as “BINGOs”), primarily based in the US, have dominated international conservation efforts. In Central and South America, this has included four main US-based BINGOs.  In Costa Rica, three of these four BINGOs have historically been active.  Despite the generally favorable image of Costa Rica in conservation circles over the years, much of the work has actually been financed by US private and public donors through these BINGOs. However, to Costa Rica’s great misfortune, all three of these US-based BINGOs have all but pulled out completely from Costa Rica conservation over the past five years.  Sadly, even where they do still work, these organizations no longer fund “place-based” conservation projects – projects like our very own “Savegre Forever! Project – but instead claim to be funding bigger (but significantly less tangible), more “policy-based” initiatives…

All this means that small Costa Rican non-governmental organizations (local “NGOs” like ASANA) have access to significantly less financial resources than they did just a few years ago. Many small conservation organizations have had to close their doors because of the void in funding left by the departure of the three US-based BINGOs.  ASANA has been one of the lucky ones to survive – so far… We’ve done this because we have been able to access some local donor funding (for example, small grants from the Costa Rica office of The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the CR-USA Debt-for-Nature Swap Fund (“Canje Por Deuda”).  We are currently working with another Costa Rica-based donor to help us in our Savegre work.

But, nothing has gotten us through this rough-patch more consistently and notably than the support we receive through GlobalGiving.  It is not hyperbole to say: “We could not have survived without GlobalGiving and your support.” GlobalGiving has given us the platform to reach individual donors who want to see Costa Rica’s majestic natural resources conserved.  We are eternally grateful to GlobalGiving and you for your continued support and we hope you find it in your heart to make another contribution – however small you may think it to be – to ASANA and our efforts to conserve the Savegre River Watershed.  A little goes a long, long way with a small local organization like ASANA…

Thanks!

ASANA hopes that 2014 proves to be the year that we successfully get Savegre declared a Biosphere Reserve.  Major tasks like this one – getting formal international recognition of the biological importance of an area such as the Savegre – are never easy to accomplish and require a lot of perseverance and patience.  But we are getting close and we appreciate your support as we continue our efforts.

 Here are some highlights of what is happening right now:

• We coordinated overflights with CAVU to monitor the state of the watershed and get good aerial photographs of pristine areas and major threats to conservation.
• We are redrafting the UNESCO proposal to declare Savegre a Biosphere Reserve.
• We are developing various proposals to finance the final stages of getting the Savegre declared a Biosphere Reserve.
• We have received generous donations of photos, videos, and satellite images to begin to put together a promotional video of the Savegre Biosphere Reserve and the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor.
• We will be working with the Panthera Foundation to do a scientific study of various species of cats – including jaguar, puma, ocelot, jaguarondi, and margay – in the Savegre Watershed.
• We are working with Park authorities and other governemnt agencies to include Manual Antonio National Park – Costa Rica’s most visited nation park – in the Savegre Watershed Biosphere Reserve. 

We're getting there... Somtimes more slowly that we would like, but like I said... "perseverance and patience"! Again, thanks for your continued support.