Purpose
- Explores and develops market-based solutions.
Summary
The Children's Eternal Rainforest, owned by the Costa Rican nonprofit Monteverde Conservation League, provides diverse and massive benefits to people on local, national, and international scales (see below). To date, however, recognition of those services – particularly in the financial realm – has been inadequate. This project aims to create a new staff position, the exclusive purpose of which will be to (a) reach out to diverse stakeholders and stimulate reflection about why they are stakeholders, (b) explore and implement mechanisms through which stakeholders are incentivized to contribute reciprocal financial support, and (c) produce a publication that summarizes the lessons obtained from this initiative as a useful reference for others.
Purpose
Costa Rica has the potential to harness the enormous power of an ecotourism economy to support conservation in a mutually beneficial synergism. This has been achieved in some ways but the mutualism is often lopsided: financial benefits received by protected areas are often grossly inadequate in relation to the benefits they provide. The CER is crucial to a wide spectrum of economic activities (ecotourism, agriculture, hydroelectricity production) but MCL does not currently receive income from most tourism visitors, due in part to the relative inaccessibility of most of the CER but also to inadequate publicity about the CER and its importance. Exploring and developing ways to increase reciprocity between the CER and the economic activities it has played a large role in creating represents an exemplary market-based solution to a challenge faced by MCL and initiatives worldwide. In our case, a symbiosis between a forest that creates markets, and markets that safeguard the forest.
Scope
We seek funds to support the first two years of a staff position dedicated to the goals outlined in this proposal, through outreach and fundraising at local, national, and international levels. We anticipate that the position will be maintained and self-sustaining after that period.
