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SCLC Reforestation Project |
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SCLC Reforestation Project
Reforestation with native tree species by small farmers – grassroots reforestation – can cement biological corridors and allow local people to benefit from rainforest conservation through sustainable wood production and habitat protection for wildlife of interest to ecotourists (such as the critically endangered great green macaw, Ara ambigua).
In the wake of the Costa Rican 1996 forestry law giving reforestation preference to large landholders and exotic wood species, civil society must take charge of reviving grassroots forestry. The first step is the promotion of a native species reforestation culture among local small landholders. The SCLC integrates our existing youth environmental education programs, which serve over 70 local students, and our Ecotourism projects with reforestation on local farms in order to transfer knowledge across generations and to link grassroots forestry with local development. Through word of mouth and community visits, SCLC was able to plant over 5000 trees in 2006-2007. Ecology Clubs and Scholarship students, visiting students and families have helped plant and monitor the projects. The SCLC works with the full support of local development associations, the Executive Committee of the San Juan-La Selva section of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, and the Sarapiquí Natural Resources Commission.
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Programs