Today, we visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and the Monteverde Institute, where we learned about the balance between forest conservation and human settlement in Monteverde. The prioritization of productivity and settlement is best seen in the Monteverde communities in the 1950s. Many of the Monteverde people were farmers, and land was cleared to make space for farming. The resulting crops fed the community. The mountain’s native fauna was also targeted, as many of Monteverde’s predators were seen as threats to cattle. This resulted in a successful human settlement, but the natural habitat in Monteverde was destroyed. In addition, the need for fuel was of higher priority than the hope to protect nature, thus increasing the impact of climate change. 

The opposing perspective prioritized conservation. Many of Monteverde’s areas are protected land, declared off-limits for human settlements and designated for recovering native flora and fauna populations. This designation reduced the amount of land available for farming, thus decreasing the amount of crops grown to feed the community. This resulted in smaller human communities and greatly reduced the impact of climate change because nature conservation was valued more than industrialization. While this approach is very successful in recovering and protecting the natural environment, it makes human settlement extremely difficult and industrialization attempts unsuccessful. 

The last perspective is more balanced and encourages the sustainability of both natural communities and human settlements. As explained at the Monteverde Institute, conservators have set corredores biológicos, or biological corridors, to enable animal travel between protected areas. This approach reduced the amount of farmland used while maintaining protected areas for native plants and animals. The Monteverde Institute works to encourage the sustainable perspective my providing classes and programs that inform and help people form environmentally-friendly habits. While climate change is still a problem, it is combated to provide aore stable balance between human and natural communities. I would personally prioritize sustainability over productivity and conservation because I believe this approach is the most successful in providing long-term stability and well-being for both communities. While productivity encourages human expansion and combats natural environments, conservation encourages natural expansion and makes human settlement extremely difficult. A sustainable approach would appease both communities and balance their needs to enable both to strive.

In areas like Monteverde, climate consistency is vital. Monteverde and its surrounding areas are provided with a constant source of rain and moisture from clouds, as evident in the cloud forests. This constant moisture in the mountain environment provides year-round greenery (hence the name “Monteverde,” meaning “green mountain”) and enables shallow plant roots to draw water from superficial surface-layer water in the soil. As climate change alters trends in temperature and raises the cloud layer, plants are unable to draw the necessary amount of water from the soil. This results in the endangerment of plants like orchids (Monteverde is home to the secind-smallest orchid in the world). As plants reduce in number and size, animals in the cloud forest lose sources of food and protection. One example is seen with butterflies and hummingbirds; both butterflies and hummingbirds have scales that reflect light and create the illusion of bright colors. This enables butterflies and hummingbirds to camouflage themselves with the brightly-colored flowers in the cloud forest. Without bright orchids and flowers, butterflies and hummingbirds lose the protection of camouflage and lose access to the flowers’ nectar. Guides and workers in the cloud forest work to conserve the forest and maintain an ideal living environment for the Monteverde creatures, especially with the forest’s appeal to tourists. In addition to limiting human harm by prohibiting the use of single-use plastic bottles in the forest, the conservators of the cloud forest limit human interaction  and access to wildlife (hiking trails can only access two percent of the forest).