1. Tourism and Conservation: the Monteverde Experience Noemi Danao, Executive Director MONTEVERDE INSTITUTE September 2006

2. What enabled Monteverde to become a premier tourist destination and “poster child” for conservation and sustainable ecotourism?

3. What is Monteverde? Monte Verde: political definition –District 9, Cantón (County) de Puntarenas, Province of Puntarenas Monteverde: human community/settlement Monteverde zone: economic (agriculture, tourism), both sides of continental divide

4. Monteverde: a cloud forest

5. What makes Monteverde unique? Largest private reserve system in Central America (75,000+ acres) Density of biological diversity: 6 different life zones History, social/cultural context

6. Monteverde: Foundings Precolombian inhabitation by Corobici aborigenes (related to Mayan culture)  1900 Guacimal Land Co. (Gold mines): workers came up in hunting trips  1920-29 Settlers in the Cerro Plano, Monteverde, Santa Elena area (providing crops and supplies for the Mining Co.)  1940 12 farms in Monteverde area  1950175 farmers lived in the Monteverde area

7. Santa Elena in the 1950s

8. Coming to Monteverde, April 19, 1951 Quaker Settlement

9. Settling in Monteverde

10. Early challenges

11. Stabilizing economic and social structures

12. Early Sustainability Forest preservation (watershed protection) Connection to the land Stable economic base (dairy, coffee) Social cohesion and support Cultural continuity Relative isolation (almost closed system)

13. First Steps to Conservation

20. Community Involvement Quaker community Productores de Monteverde (Dairy plant) Cooperativa Santa Elena Development Associations Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve NGOs: Monteverde Conservation League, Monteverde Institute, civic committees Municipal Government (2003)

21. Successes of Local Organizations Extensive land conservation and preservation Large scale reforestation Environmental education Community involvement Emergence of organizations that meet new needs

22. Challenges that face the region Global climate change National context Tourism boom (and bust?) in Monteverde Increasing pressure on social, economic, and physical environment

23. The changing Monteverde zone

24. Population growth trends

25. Challenges to sustainability Cerro Plano, 1991 Cerro Plano, 2001 Cerro Plano, 2010 Cerro Plano, 2020

26. Traffic Projection: Cerro Plano 2001 Source: Sustainable Futures 2001

27. Traffic Projection: Cerro Plano 2020 Source: Sustainable Futures 2001

28. Monteverde: Closing Reflections Conservation – unintended road to tourism (and development) Monteverde: a cloud forest, a protected area, a story Challenges: living up to image, building on achievements, finding a sustainable balance

29. Questions? Thank you!