Welcome to the Fund For Costa Rica's Website!
The Fund for Costa Rica is a non-profit, non-governmental organization which promotes biodiversity conservation in Costa Rica.
The mission of the Fund for Costa Rica is to support staff and programs in Costa Rica that will:
- Carry out conservation efforts to preserve and enhance the environment, ecosystems, habitats and endangered species of Costa Rica
- Educate the general public and the business community on the value of Costa Rica's natural environment and bio-diversity
- Demonstrate and support effective environmental stewardship in all its practices.
The World Needs Models for Sustainable Biodiversity Conservation
The world's tropical forests are being destroyed at an astounding rate. The basic problem is that a standing, biologically diverse tropical forest creates little to no economic benefits for the private rural landholder. In order to generate income to support a family it is often necessary to cut the forest to sell the wood or to convert the area to another land use like cattle ranching or crops. If the world is to conserve and expand our remaining tropical forests substantial financial resources are needed to protect tropical forests from illegal cutting and to provide income for those rural landowners who protect this important resource. But who should pay to protect the forests? Ultimately, if forest conservation is to be financed sustainably, the "user" of the forest should pay for its protection. In many parts of the world, the nature tourism industry is the primary 'user' of standing and biologically diverse tropical forests. Without the forests and the monkeys, sloths, toucans, and other unique creatures tourists from around the world probably would not be visiting.
Tourism Financing Biodiversity Conservation
In Costa Rica, the tourism industry is a pillar of the nation's economy. Tourism generates more foreign exchange for the Costa Rican economy than any other economic activity, including coffee, pineapple, and even banana exports! In 2005 tourism generated over $1.5 billion in foreign exchange and accounted for 8% of Costa Rica’s GDP. Thus, a sustainable way to conserve biodiversity in Costa Rica is for the country's successful nature tourism industry to help pay for it. The Fund for Costa Rica is working to promote investment by the tourism industry in programs to improve the environment and to conserve biodiversity.
Manuel Antonio: Model for Biodiversity Conservation
Manuel Antonio is home to the world renowned Manuel Antonio National Park. According to the Costa Rican Tourism Institute this national park is one of the most widely visited parks in the country with 1 in 4 international tourists visiting it. Unfortunately, forest corridors for the national park are being lost to uncontrolled real estate development. Thus, local fauna like the Costa Rican Red-Backed Squirrel Monkey, or mono tití, are being driven to extinction.
Manuel Antonio is suffering from its success as a nature tourism destination. Unless the process of destruction is halted and reversed Costa Rica will lose an important nature tourism destination and future generations of Costa Ricans will not grow up with monkeys and sloths in their communities. Manuel Antonio is at a crossroads and can either be a model for biodiversity conservation or a model for deforestation and species extinction.
The Fund for Costa Rica is working in Manuel Antonio to ensure that the area is a model for biodiversity conservation and sustainable tourism development. The Fund for Costa Rica has joined forces with the Ministry of the Environment to help protect the area's threatened forests and it is promoting investment by responsible tourism businesses in programs to help save Manuel Antonio.