We are a nature reserve and rural community of Santa Juana located in the Fila Chonta Mountain Range overlooking Manuel Antonio National Park and the Central Pacific Coast in the county of Quepos, Costa Rica . The project goes beyond protecting a key watershed and wildlife habitat, to enabling pride and economic prosperity for local communities as part of our mission in Sustainable Rural Hospitality. This area is covered by Humid Tropical Forest, a biodiverse treasure with rare flora and fauna and hundreds of pristine mountain springs. Successful pilot projects of the Santa Juana community and lodge, and the private Cloudmaker Nature Reserve, already exist here protecting 400 hectares (1,000 acres). The Santa Juana community members are the Caretakers of these projects. Buying several abandoned farms in the area would expand this protected land to thousands of additional hectares. The 501c3 foundation, The Nature Fund for Costa Rica, plans to raise funds, including Crowd Funding and Carbon Credit Offsets. These funds will go toward land purchase and sponsoring the first School for Rural Costa Rican Gastronomy. The school’s curriculum by the World Institute of Sustainable Gastronomy and programs by the Corcovado Foundation on Regenerative Agriculture will offer knowledge, skills, and products, accessible to both tourists and residents. A Research Station is also planned, to enable the inventory and progress monitoring of endangered species protected by the nature reserve. We will continue building our story and enabling donors to become participants – to personally experience the benefits of protecting and enhancing the culture of rural communities and the wealth of their treasured biodiversity.
