Monteverde : Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest

Table 10.1. Number of students in Monteverde
Institute courses by fiscal year (October-September).

Fiscal Year

1986-87
1987-88
1988-89
1989-90
1990-91
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
Total

Long

Courses

18

23

37

36

32

50

99

98

89

110

121

166

879

Short

Courses

0

41

126

230

249

217

284

303

153

116

181

101

2001

Total

18

64

163

266

281

267

383

401

242

226

302

267

2880

Source: L. Wirtanen, J. Longino (pers. comm.).

Report 1997, p. 2). Located adjacent to the dairy plant
in the center of Monteverde, the facility houses offices,
computers, the library, classroom space, and commu-
nity meeting areas. Establishing model conservation
easements for this and other property and linking ease-
ments with the Guacimal River Greenway Project were
a high priority (MVI Annual Report 1997).
Students in MVI courses lived and had classes in
MCFP's main building and in local pensions and
hotels until 1991, when the TSC limited housing to
short-term groups. The long-term courses moved to
the Biological Station (Estacion Biologica), which had
been built by Canadian entomologist Monty Woods.
The building contains sleeping and dining facilities
and laboratory and computer space and offers access
to primary and secondary forest (Q. Newcomer, pers.
comm.). MVI produces brochures and annual reports
and published a newsletter (Monteverde Journal) in
1994-1995. The Alliance for the Monteverde Institute,
a U.S. tax-exempt organization, was established in
Massachusetts in 1993.

10.6.2. Community Development Programs

The MVI uses funds from contributions and courses

to support programs that benefit the community, such

as biological field trips for teachers and students, ecol-

ogy classes at the SER, bird identification walks, en-

vironmental education in schools, and a children's

ecology group. They cooperate with other organiza-

tions in the annual Ecological Festival (MVI Annual

Reports 1987-1997). In 1996, MVI cooperated with

MCL to give a short course for natural history guides

at the San Gerardo field station (R. Kropp, pers. comm.)

In 1992, MVI developed support groups for women.

They helped local women's groups (e.g., La Campe-

sinita; see Burlingame, "La Campesinita," p. 384) to

develop administrative skills and to link women's

groups in the Monteverde Zone with other organi-

zations in Costa Rica. They developed the Family

Life Program for women, which dealt with economic

autonomy, self-esteem, leadership, nutrition and health,

literacy, and domestic violence, recognizing that

women's concerns and activities are crucial for sus-

tainable development (A. Marin, pers. comm.). Al-

though women in the region have had little public role

in decision-making, they make many daily decisions

about using natural resources such as water, firewood,

and electricity. They also decide what the family eats,

produce some of that food, and determine what to do

with wastes (Monteverde Journal, vol. 1, no. 2,1994).

In 1997, MVI launched a Gender and Women's Stud-

ies Program, with faculty seminars and undergradu-

ate programs that focus on women and development

(MVI Annual Report 1997; I. Leitinger, pers. comm.).

In another approach to fundraising, the MVI

produced a 1996 "Monteverde Artists Postcard-

Calendar." Local artists donated their work; proceeds

from sales supported the Family Life Program and the

scholarship fund for local schools (MVI Annual Re-

port 1995). A ceramics center was built in 1995 as a

cooperative project among MVI, resident potters, and

the Comite de Artesanias Santa Elena-Monteverde

(CASEM; Monteverde Journal, vol. 2, no. 2,1995; see

Burlingame, "Comite de Artesanias," pp. 383-384).

The MVI Volunteer Center was established jointly with

the MCL in 1990 to place the many volunteers attracted

to the Monteverde Zone. By 1997, the center had placed

386 volunteers with nonprofit groups in the area. Vol-

unteers have contributed to local schools, helped the

MCL with tree nurseries and reforestation, maintained

trails, and staffed visitor's centers in the MCFP, SER

and MCL's Bajo del Tigre section of BEN (MVI An-

nual Reports 1987-1997, L. Wirtanen, pers. comm.).

10.7. Environmental Education

in Public and Private Schools

Costa Rica has compulsory free public education for

grades 1-8. All communities in the Monteverde Zone

with at least 18 potential students have government-

supported primary schools. These schools lack ade-

quate resources, and they have difficulty attracting

and retaining qualified teachers (Stuckey 1992).

Schools are controlled by the centralized Ministry of

Public Education (Ministerio de Educacion Piiblica,

MEP), which has developed curriculum plans that

incorporate environmental education. However, to

implement the curriculum plans, local rural teachers

370 Conservation in the Monteverde Zone