In 1988, they articulated 12 ideals, including "har-
mony between production and the environment" and
"broad participation in decision making" (}. Stuckey,
pers. comm.). Monteverde 2020 was established as an
umbrella organization to foster coordination among
the areas' many organizations with a three-year grant
from the Interamerican Foundation. In 1990, they
developed a mission statement and set up 10 commis-
sions to work on issues including conservation, tour-
ism, and roads. When funding ran out, they became
dormant for several reasons: no one had experience
running such an organization, some institutions held
their own priorities over the group's, political power
and a solid economic base were lacking, and insuffi-
cient benefits were provided to member organiza-
tions. Monteverde 2020 had some successes: it awoke
awareness of the need for long-term planning, started
a garbage collection program, helped improve educa-
tion in the zone, and trained participants to plan in
the long term (J. Stuckey and T. Ewing, pers. comm.).ELBUENAMIGO
Eugenio Vargas
(reprinted with permission from MCLTapir Tracks, vol. 5, no. 3,1991)sociacion El Buen Amigo, "The Good Friend
Association," consists of a group of families
who farm in Los Altos de San Luis, 4 km from
Monteverde (Fig. 1.7). The group formed in 1984,
when two brothers of the Leiton family donated a 131-
ha farm and families worked the land as a coopera-
tive. This farm includes a forest reserve, which has
about 75% of its area in virgin forest. Because of its
elevation and location near the MCFP, many birds and
other animals live there year-round. Other species
migrate: Brocket Deer, quetzals, Three-wattled Bell-
birds, oropendolas, toucans, Swallow-tailed Kites,
Lineated Woodpeckers, and manakins. It is common
to come upon groups of Coatis, White-faced Capu-
chins, Howler Monkeys, and Collared Peccaries.
Our first plan was to build a sugar mill to make
dulce (brown sugar) from sugarcane. We had only the
help and determination of friends and organizations
that gave us moral and material support to buy the first
cows and build a milking shed. With more economic
help, we built houses and a bridge over the San Luis
River. Five houses, the sugar mill, and two milking
sheds were made with our own hands. The group
started with 20 members. Some dropped out because
of economic difficulties or due to misunderstand-
ings in the group. In 1991, seven families were in the
group. The salary distributed among the members
came from milk production, based on the number of
hours each person worked. We also planted cane,
coffee, and vegetables (Fig. 10.11).
El Buen Amigo could perhaps be called the San
Luis Conservation Association because we have not
destroyed the forest by working here. Little by little,
we have produced without using much modern tech-
nology, without going into debt with banks, and above
all, with the help from others and our own efforts. Our
goal is to produce the things necessary for our fami-
lies, to make use of the resources of this farm without
destroying them, and to discover ways to help main-
tain a balance between conservation of this beautiful
place and our needs for production.
One result of meetings with MCL was our proposal
to find financing for a hydroelectric plant. We have no
electricity. This plant will make use of water sources
and the steep topography of the land. Our hope is to
produce energy for light in our houses and to install
a woodworking shop. We could make use of wood
from fallen trees in the forest and offer our children a
place to learn how to make useful and beautiful things
with their hands. Another important step in our rela-
tion with the MCL was an agreement to give El Buen
Amigo economic support to increase milk production
without clearing more forest for pasture. Instead, we
purchased pasture land below our farm. In exchange,
El Buen Amigo members committed themselves to
preserve about half of our forests.
Chapter Editor's Update: An assessment of El Buen
Amigo in 1998 indicated changes from the original
vision; members found it hard to survive financially
through subsistence farming. By 1998, only five fami-
lies still lived on the farm. One person from the farm
has become a parataxonomist for the Institute of Bio-
diversity. The cooperative aspects of farming have
ended; members divide the pasture and crop area
and pursue farming as individuals. In 1994, the com-
munity began obtaining money from ecotourism by
building a 16-bed hostel for Costa Rican and foreign
students studying agroecology and forest conserva-
tion. El Buen Amigo still acts as a cooperative to run
the hostel. Members are interested in preserving their
forest after the MCL lease runs out in 1999 but need a
new lease from MCL or another conservation group
(Monteverde Journal, vol. 1, no. 2, 1994, M. Cruz, T.
and Z. Fuentes and E. Vargas, pers. comm.).379 Conservation in the Monteverde ZoneA