The Barbilla-Destierro Corridor is made up of a patchwork of several hundred privately owned properties. Because of its fragmented nature it is not possible to preserve the entire corridor for conservation purposes. Our solution to this challenge is to identify a chain of strategically located private properties that if protected, can provide a land bridge through which wildlife may pass around the Reventazon Reservoir unharmed.
CORRIDOR CONSERVATION PROPERTIES
Appropriate stewardship is vital if the Barbilla-Destierro Corridor is to be repaired and protected from unsustainable development. By collaborating with land trusts and independent investors we are working to assemble a network of protected properties that will help to maintain the integrity of the corridor.
To achieve this goal, we are working with Properties in Costa Rica who are the country’s leading real estate agents. We are also extremely pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with conservation property specialists Grow Jungles. Miguel Guevara's non-profit entity is leading the way in preservation through environmentally conscious investment with an ambitious plan on creating reserves in forgotten areas of Costa Rica. Together we aim to match outstanding conservation properties with appropiate new owners in order to secure the future of these crucial componets of Costa Rica's priceless biodiversty. See our corridor conservation properties here.
The map below shows the geographical focus area of our work.
CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
All properties represented by The Jaguar Project will carry a conservation easement on the title in order to ensure that the landscape is indefinitely maintained as safe migratory habitat. Buyers may be obliged to participate in a reforestation program as part of the purchase agreement. Deforestation, hunting, and the use of poisons and pesticides will be strictly prohibited.
REFORESTATION INCENTIVES
The Costa Rican Government’s FONAFIFO program is designed to encourage the restoration of degraded habitats through reforestation, and offers financial incentives to landowners who reforest their property.
The Jaguar Project offers landowners within the corridor advice on how to inscribe their properties into the FONAFIFO program, and we also assist them with the complex paperwork involved as a free service. We can help facilitate financial rewards in return for reforestation, as well as for the preservation of existing forest. Since the Reventazon Valley is not only located within a threatened biological corridor, but also in a region with several "conservation holes", it qualifies for the highest level of Government financial support available.
REFORESTATION RESOURCES
CATIE and EARTH University are two of the world's epicenters for advanced tropical forest management. They are both located at the edge of the Barbilla-Destierro Corridor and have offered their expertise to assist with our reforestation programs.
CATIE
The Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) is a world leader in the integrated management of agriculture and natural resources. Located in Turrialba at the foot of the Reventazon Valley the center is an autonomous non-profit institution working toward promoting education, research, innovation, the sustainable management of agriculture and conservation of natural resources.
With the help of expert advice from CATIE we have developed a reforestation program uniquely suited to the Reventazon Valley. Focusing on fruit-bearing trees that are known to attract jaguar prey species we have identified an optimum mix of tree species that will provide a fast growing, wildlife-friendly habitat which can also yield a sustainable fruit harvest if required.
EARTH UNIVERSITY
EARTH (Escuela de Agricultura de la Región Tropical Húmeda) is a private non-profit University located in the nearby town of Mercedes just 10 kilometers outside the Barbilla-Destierro Corridor. Their world-renowned educational programs focus on agricultural sciences and sustainable development, and they have kindly offered to advise us and assist us with the reforestation of our conservation properties.
In conjunction with EARTH, The Jaguar Project is promoting an innovative new style of cacao polyculture in the region. Breaking away from the traditional style of cacao monoculture which does not adequately support wildlife, we are working with several properties within the corridor to develop mixed cacao plantations that can serve as habitat for endangered species whilst also providing a financial return. By layering several plantations on top of one another in an Analog Forestry style we can repair the Barbilla-Destierro Corridor and help restore connectivity.
Two of the corridors most influential landowners, the chocolatiers Rausch and the Rossi family, have already initiated mixed cacao plantations which we hope will serve as model farms to inspire other landowners in the region to follow suit.
COMMUNITY OUTREACH PROGRAMS
Successful corridor restoration can only be achieved with the cooperation and assistance of the inhabitants of the Reventazon Valley. Effective environmental solutions must be synchronistic to their concerns and empathic to their basic needs.
The Jaguar Project is working with the community to help raise awareness of feline conservation issues. We also work with local farmers to encourage responsible agricultural and ranching practices in an effort to reduce incidences of human-jaguar conflict.
We go to great lengths to inform the residents of the corridor that humans are in no danger of attack from any of the six Costa Rican wildcat species. Costa Rican’s tend to believe that wildcats can be a threat to their safety, but contrary to popular local belief there are no reports of anyone being attacked or killed by a jaguar or any other feline species anywhere in Central America.
