Figure 10.8. Natural history guide
Gary Diller O'Dell explaining the
pollination biology ofXanthosoma to
tourists in the Monteverde Cloud
Forest Preserve. Photograph by
Dan Perlman.
claims of valley residents and squatters had not ma-
terialized since 1977, when the valley was included
in a forest reserve to protect the Arenal Hydroelectric
Project. Residents and squatters wanted TSC either to
buy them out or open the road through the MCFP into
the valley to permit development. Several Monte-
verde residents and Canadian researchers started a
fund-raising campaign to purchase claims and protect
the valley. The Portland Audubon Society donated
funds, and slide shows at Monteverde Zone hotels
raised more than $1000 in 10 days (M. and P. Fogden,
pers. comm.). The first land purchase was a farm be-
longing to Eladio Cruz, who had worked for the MCFP
since 1972, marking boundaries, clearing trails, and
watching for squatters; his farm house later became a
shelter for scientists and guards (E. Cruz and F. Joyce,
pers. comm.). The MCL and TSC agreed that MCL
would mount a fund-raising campaign, purchase land
in the valley up to a certain boundary, and then turn
over this land to TSC.
Fund-raising was enormously successful. The WWF-
Canada and a widely read Canadian nature magazine
helped publicize the campaign and WWF-Canada chan-
neled tax-deductible contributions to MCL. Donors re-
ceived certificates from MCL showing how many acres
they purchased for $25 an acre (Forsyth et al. 1988, B.
Robinson 1988, J. Crisp, pers. comm.). William Haber,
the first director of the MCL, obtained a $25,000 chal-
lenge grant from WWF-US that was matched by funds
raised locally and in the United States.
International funding had a profound effect on the
MCL. A debt-for-nature swap (see Burlingame, "Debt-
for-Nature-Swaps," pp. 377) transformed the MCL
from a small organization made up primarily of for-
eign-born volunteers to a large organization with a
paid staff composed primarily of Costa Ricans (C.
Echevema, pers. comm.). In 1987, W. Haber negoti-
ated with the Minister of MIRENEM to include MCL
in Costa Rica's first debt-for-nature swap. The WWF-
Canada agreed that MCL could use $50,000 raised for362 Conservation in the Monteverde Zone