Initiatives

In an effort to be proactive in confronting regional social and environmental issues, members of our community banded together to create The Bellavista Initiative in 2012.

_dsc0173A general consensus the world over seems to be that many of the activities observed on a regular basis in rural areas of Latin America – slash and burn agriculture, endangered species poaching, deforestation, industrial and governmental corruption of communities – are relics of the past. Yet those living in these wilder frontiers realize that threats to the environment and its inhabitants are imminent and ongoing. Daily reminders come in the form of contaminated water sources, naked swaths of newly deforested mountainsides, obvious pockets of human birth defects and slaughtered wildlife.

Conservation efforts in marginalized areas like those surrounding Finca Bellavista must be approached delicately and holistically. New ideas and methods must be implemented with respect to generations of customs, beliefs, and activities that might conflict with the progressive changes necessary to preserve and restore ecosystems and communities.

Our programs, fundraising, and outreach focuses on applying remedies to some of the most pressing ecological and social issues impacting the Southern Zone of Costa Rica directly around our community. We believe there are countless opportunities to affect immediate positive changes in this region that we call home. Because our setting is speckled with a variety of land uses – primary and secondary growth rainforests, industrial agricultural lands, protected areas, and struggling populations – it acts as an ideal incubator for the specialized programs necessary to create systemic changes that will protect and restore rainforest assets and communities. Our intent is to grow our programs and outreach in the years ahead.