Figure 10.7. One of the three recycling stations estab-
lished by the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve in the
Monteverde Zone. Photograph by Leslie Burlingame.could do more to promote research. Some feel that
tourism has been promoted at the cost of facilitating
research; the number of researchers has declined as
tourism has increased (see Chap. 1, Introduction). The
MCFP has limited and primitive laboratory facilities
with equipment supplied mainly by researchers (N.
Nadkarni and N. Wheelwright, pers. comm.). The
TSC has sought to rectify this; the master plan of 1991
called for the construction of laboratory facilities and
housing for long-term researchers. The MCFP direc-
tor affirmed in 1996 TSC's commitment to encourage
more research; TSC approved plans for a new labora-
tory building in 1998 and expects to complete con-
struction by 1999 (B. Carlson, pers. comm.). The TSC
offers annual specialized scientific courses at the
MCFP, including courses on life zone ecology taught
in Spanish.
The MCFP is thus emerging as a functioning con-
servation entity. Biologists have documented the
importance of altitudinal migrations in many animal
species. They recognize that the land protected in the
Monteverde Reserve Complex is not sufficient to pro-
tect altitudinal migrants. A collaborative proposal to
establish corridors running from the MCFP to the
Inter-American Highway and the Gulf of Nicoya has
been made (Musinsky 1991, Tropical Science Center
1995). As a first step to establish this corridor, TSC
purchased the largest remaining forest patch on the
Pacific side, a 240-ha farm, called the San Luis Bio-
logical Station. A fund-raising group established as
the Friends of the Monteverde Cloud Forest was formed
in 1990 as a U.S.-based tax-exempt organization.10.4. The Monteverde Conservation
League and Bosque Eterno de
los NinosThe MCL, founded in 1986, initially focused on land
purchase for conservation. Its BEN included more
than about 18,000 ha by 1998. The MCL emphasizes
long-term protection through environmental educa-
tion, forest protection, reforestation and restoration
of degraded land, sustainable development, and sci-
entific research. Its mission is "to conserve, preserve,
and rehabilitate tropical ecosystems and their bio-
diversity" (MCL Tapir Tracks, vol. 7, no. 1,1992. p. 3;
Fig. 10.9).10.4.1. Origins and Development
By 1985, agricultural development in the Monteverde
Zone was threatening much of the remaining Pacific
slope forest. A group of community members recog-
nized the urgent need for a locally administered con-
servation organization. The TSC administered the
MCFP from San Jose and did not manifest concern
about activities outside preserve borders. Conversa-
tions at town meetings and informal settings led to the
formation of the MCL (A. Pounds, pers. comm.). The
main organizers at these meetings were Monteverde
residents and visitors, many with science backgrounds.
The statutes of the MCL laid out its main conserva-
tion objectives, which reflect general conservation
priorities of the 1980s: "a) the conservation, protec-
tion, and recovery of the country's natural resources,
including its land, water, air, flora, and fauna; b) the
improvement and protection of the physical, biotic,
and cultural environment; and c) the search for an
adequate balance and a healthy relationship between
the inhabitants and nature" (Monteverde Conserva-
tion League 1986, p. 1).
The MCL's attention shifted from the Pacific to the
Atlantic side of the Continental Divide because of a
deforestation crisis threatening the Penas Blancas
valley (Fig. 1.5). Government promises to buy out361 Conservation in the Monteverde Zone