Monteverde : Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest

Figure 10.4. Main building of the

Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve.

Photograph by Leslie Burlingame.

In 1972, Powell approached the TSC, the eventual
owner (Tosi 1992). Powell raised funds from the Ex-
plorers Club in New York, The Nature Conservancy
(TNC; their first international effort), the German
Herpetological Society, and individuals and organi-
zations concerned with bird conservation. The World
Wildlife Fund-U.S. (WWF-US) focused on protecting
individual endangered species, so Powell's proposal
stressed protection of the Golden Toad, Resplendent
Quetzal, Bare-necked Umbrella Bird, tapir, and wild
cats (G. Powell, pers. comm.).

The MCFP grew as adjoining parcels were pur-

chased with additional funds from WWF and others.

In the late 1970s, TSC dealt with three threats: (1)

attempts to build a road through the MCFP to develop

the Pefias Blancas valley, (2) an attempted government

takeover of Bosqueterno land to build a television

repeating tower, and (3) government-issued mining

concessions in the Penas Blancas valley (J. Tosi, pers.

comm.). By 1986, the MCFP was 4000 ha in size.

When MCL started a campaign to purchase additional

land in the Pefias Blancas valley in 1986, the plan was

Figure 10.5. John and Doris Campbell, North American Quakers who settled in Monteverde and

encouraged biological research on their farm and forest. Photograph by Dan Perlman.

358 Conservation in the Monteverde Zone