LA BELLA FARM
Leslie J. Buriingamehe La Bella Farm (Finca La Bella) Project in
San Luis (Fig. 1.7) is similar to the Buen Amigo
project. Ann Kriebel was a Quaker resident
of Monteverde in the early 1980s who developed
programs in San Luis in education, health, and nu-
trition. The North American Quaker group Friends
Committee on Unity with Nature established the Ann
Kriebel/San Luis Project in 1992 and worked with
the Coope to raise money to purchase the 49-ha La
Bella farm. The project is establishing a land trust
to promote conservation and sustainable develop-
ment with landless farmers. By 1998, 18 families
had been located on the farm and were producing
coffee, milk, and vegetables, tending an organic farm-
ing demonstration plot (established by the MCFP's
EEP), conserving the soil, improving yields with help
from the Coope, and reforesting with native species.
A preschool and community health center operate
on the farm as joint efforts of the Coope, the San Luis
Development Association, and the community
(Balderston 1993, W. Howenstine and C. Vargas,
pers. comm.).SAN GERARDO: AN EXPERIMENT IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
John Bollan Gerardo Arriba encompasses portions of the
Cano Negro and San Gerardo River watersheds.
The area (800-1300 m), which lies between
Monteverde and Lake Arenal, receives 5000 mm of
annual precipitation and is classified as Atlantic slope
premontane rain forest (Holdridge 1967). Subsistence
Costa Rican farmers have lived in the area for at least
45 years; the majority of land clearing has been done
in the last 25 years. The original settlers raised beans,
corn, bananas, sugarcane, pigs, and cattle. Cattle have
always been an important source of milk, cheese, and
meat for consumption and market. Hunting of deer,
monkeys, pacas, and other mammals and birds pro-
vided food supplements.
In 1977, the Costa Rican government established
what is now called the Arenal-Monteverde Pro-
tected Zone in a territory that includes San Gerardo.
It stretched from the San Ramon Protected Zone in
the south (now the Alberto Brenes Biological Reserve)
to the shore of what would become the greatly en-
larged Lake Arenal. This was established to protect
natural resources and the watershed of the Lake
Arenal hydroelectric and irrigation project. Although
the government did not have funds to purchase land
in this area, the rules of the zone were restrictive for
the inhabitants, limiting their hunting activities and
forbidding them to cut trees. Government assistance
for infrastructure was curtailed and banks would not
issue credit.
In 1991, the MCL bought most of the land in the
San Gerardo area for inclusion in the BEN. They used
funds from a debt-for-nature swap; the initial pur-
chase was 1102 ha. Some landowners did not wish
to sell or leave their land. The MCL entered into an
agreement with community members to provide for
the sustainable development of the area, to improve
the people's livelihoods, and to serve as an example
for other communities. A master plan for the com-
munity was drawn up by graduate students from the
University of Costa Rica, working with MCL support
(Montero and Zarate 1991). The Alex C. Walker Edu-
cational and Charitable Foundation provided a three-
year grant toward the construction of housing and
laboratory space, a visitor center, an access road, tech-
nical coordination, and administration. The Barnens
Regnskog and WWF-Costa Rica also provided funds.
A group of biologists located a site with access to pri-
mary and secondary forest, regenerating pasture, and
a spectacular view of Lake Arenal and the Arenal
volcano.
The station opened in 1994. It consists of a large
(350 m^2 ) two-story building with laboratory space,
dining room, kitchen, office, and bunks for 24. The
station has provided jobs for people from the commu-
nity. Trail systems (10 km) are being improved, sup-
ported by a grant from the Tina Joliffe Memorial Fund
in England. A hydroelectric facility that provides elec-
tricity for the station is supported by a grant from380 Conservation in the Monteverde ZoneTS