watersheds unprotected, eliminated natural wind-
breaks, and imported exotic crops. They sold their "im-
proved" farms to cattle ranchers in the lower areas of
Mont ever de. Many farmers have given up farming and
devote themselves to business and activities related to
tourism. The population has become concentrated in
semiurban nuclei with inadequate waste management.
They are rapidly advancing toward the establishment
of a standard of living that consumes nonrenewable
resources and generates little biodegradable waste.
Programs and processes of environmental edu-
cation exist in Monteverde. The former developed
through the initiative of nongovernmental organiza-
tions and public institutions. These programs eluci-
date the causes of environmental problems and elabo-
rate educational processes that contribute to their
resolution. The community processes of environmen-
tal education have evolved in the daily life of the
population and are nourished by life experiences in
their successes and failures.
The community of Monteverde educates itself en-
vironmentally in its daily practice, transforming the
forest into cultivated areas; hunting; extracting prod-
ucts from the forest; producing milk, coffee, and crafts;
seeking recreation in the forests and rivers; and prac-
ticing its religious faiths. The conservation institu-
tions seek to identify their roles in this process of liv-
ing, a process that is also environmental education:
how do they succeed in making conservation an es-
sential element of the culture? The communities have
gradually passed from being people who lived in the
midst of the mountains to people located in buffer
zones of natural forest reserves. On the upper part of
the mountain, forest protection is the center of attrac-
tion for researchers and tourists. Lower elevations are
home to the people and to agricultural and craft pro-
duction, business, services for tourism, and habitat
restoration projects.
The conservation movement has grown; campesinos
maintain sustainable production practices, immigrant
Quakers practice a culture of respect and love for their
fellow humans and for their natural surroundings, im-
migrant researchers bring their knowledge and environ-
mental ethics, business people make a reality of eco-
tourism's promise, and artisans give visible shape to
elements of natural history in their materials and forms.
The process of environmental education in Monte-
verde faces many challenges. It is certain that more
people earn their living thanks to the conservation of
the cloud forest. It is also certain that many people
value the forest for its potential to attract visitors with
dollars. Ecotourism is seen by many residents more
in economic rather than in ecological terms. Monte-
verde is an important center of research on the cloud
forest. However, most research results are not readily
available to the local population. Environmental edu-
cators and researchers must unite their efforts toward
the formulation of programs that allow residents to
discover, value, and use the biological knowledge that
is generated in our forests.
Monteverde is not an isolated community; it is
more open to the influence of external factors than
most in Costa Rica. Conditions are favorable for be-
ing a tourism zone, mixing nationalities and cultures
that live together, developing communication path-
ways, and fostering visits of students and biologists.
Good and bad customs mold lifestyles and develop a
quality of life different from that which has governed
local development for five decades. Environmental
educators must facilitate processes that promote the
capacity of the community to select habits, develop
forms of sustainable production, and resist the objects
that the promoters of the consumer system make us
believe are necessary. In the long term, the protection
of natural ecosystems and their biodiversity will be
favored to the extent that the local population devel-
ops attitudes, knowledge, and skills to sustain devel-
opment in Monteverde. The community will develop
its potential to form a concept of life that is fuller and
more sustainable to the extent that environmental
education is a conscious process of the people and
reaches beyond programs of conservation institutions.MONTEVERDE 2020
Leslie], Burlingameonteverde 2020 was an "organization of or-
ganizations" established to promote demo-
cratic dialogue to develop a shared vision
for sustainable development and to facilitate coopera-
tion among organizations to plan actions to achieve
this vision. It grew out of the Monteverde Zone's longtradition of forming committees to deal with local
problems and issues. By 1991, there were more than
40 committees and 12 membership organizations in
the zone (Stuckey 1992).
Originally, TSC formed a "Monteverde Commit-
tee" to foster positive relations with the community.378 Conservation in the Monteverde ZoneM