Table 11.1. Monteverde area residents cited in
Chapter 11.Resident Community Activities
John Campbell
Ovidio Leiton
Jaime Lopez
Juan Jose Monge
Daniel Peck
Marvin Rockwell
Joseph Stuckey
Katy VanDusen
Carlos Vargas
Jose Luis Vargas
Christina Villalobos
Marco Vinicio
Jim Wolfe
Quaker settler, dairy farmer
Dairy farmer
Coffee technician, CoopeSanta
Elena, R.L. (Coope)
Veterinarian, Productores de
Monteverde
Insect ecologist
Quaker settler, tour guide, hotel
owner
Dairy farmer, economic and
community development
specialist
Horticulturist, homemaker
Manager, Coope
Manager, dairy plant
Homemaker, farmer
Forester, Monteverde Conservation
League
Farmer, biologist, Butterfly Farm
owner(1998), three sustainable agriculture "schools of
thought" exist in Monteverde. The first group is the
"Ecocentric Agriculture" school, whose approach
focuses on what is sustainable in a biological/ecologi-
cal sense. Many local biologists and organic produc-
ers espouse this view. They maintain that agriculture
should mimic natural systems as much as possible,
maintain species diversity within a cropping system,
and rely on biological, cultural, and mechanical con-
trol of pests. Methods of biological pest control in-
clude breeding resistant crops, augmenting natural
enemies, introducing new parasites, and controlling
the behavior of pests (e.g., with pheromones). Cultural
control includes plant spacing, tillage, intercrop-
ping, and crop rotations. Mechanical control in-
cludes physical removal of insects and weeds, or
physical barriers such as fences or protective mesh
(National Research Council 1989).
The second group is the "Green Productionist"
school, who wish to improve the ecological sus-
tainability of agriculture while maintaining financial
soundness. If the system can function physically and
economically over the long term, it is "sustainable."
In Monteverde, this group comprises the more busi-
ness-oriented farmers and those who work for agri-
cultural enterprises such as the dairy plant.
The third group, the "Agrarian Sociocentric"
school, includes ecological and economic consider-
ations, human communities, and social justice. A
system is sustainable if it does not degrade the envi-
ronment, if it is economically feasible, and if it pro-
motes social justice and healthy human communities.
In practice, achieving all these goals simultaneously
is rare and may require some modification of stan-
dards. This group includes many small farmers and
nonfarmers who are sympathetic to farming.
Each view has inspired attempts to improve the
sustainability of Monteverde agriculture. The eco-
centric agriculture view has increased the demand for
organic produce and led to the local agricultural co-
operative's (Coope's) efforts to encourage organic
coffee and vegetable production. The green produc-
tionist view has inspired the dairy plant's efforts to
raise dairy productivity and reduce environmental
impacts of dairying. The agrarian sociocentric view
has given life to the Buen Amigo project of San Luis
and the Coope's coffee project. Although their empha-
ses differ, these approaches ultimately converge, since
an agrarian society requires healthy land and adequate
incomes for farmers. Sustainability thus includes eco-
nomic, social, and agronomic factors. No practice is
sustainable under all circumstances.
In this chapter, our goals are to define current pa-
rameters, identify obstacles, and suggest research to
overcome nonsustainable agriculture in Monteverde.
A completely sustainable system must be able to func-
tion indefinitely as a closed system, cycling products
without generating wastes or requiring outside inputs.
Except in rare cases, a completely closed system can-
not be maintained. This analysis focuses on farm-level
systems in Monteverde. For example, we examine
how feeding grain concentrates to cows affects the
sustainability of a dairy farm, but we do not attempt
to analyze whether Costa Rican feed grain production
is sustainable, a question that is beyond the scope of
this chapter.The Agricultural Environment
in Monteverde
We define the Monteverde area as the dairy plant's
"milkshed," that is, the area that produces milk re-
ceived by Productores de Monteverde. This area, about
100 km across at its widest point, spans several life
zones and includes the communities of: Monteverde,
San Luis, Cerro Piano, Santa Elena, La Lindora, La
Guaria, Guacimal, and Los Llanos (Puntarenas Pro-
vince); Canitas, La Cruz, Las Nubes, San Rafael, Los
Tornos, Cebadilla, Campos de Oro, San Bosco, Cabe-
ceras, San Ramon del Dos, La Florida, La Chiripa, El
Dos Arriba, El Dos Abajo, Monte de los Olivos, Rio
Negro, Turin, and La Esperanza (Guanacaste Province).
We separate the milkshed into two parts: upland (above
900 m) and lowland (below 900 m). Specialized dairy
farms generally occur in the upland area, and beef and
dual-purpose (combined milk and beef) operations
occur in the lowland area.390 Agriculture in Monteverde: Moving Toward Sustainability