We began this beautiful morning by hiking Monteverde’s cloud forest reserve. After getting a preview of the forest from our night walk yesterday, I was really excited to see the trees in the daylight. During the hike, our guide showed us different wildlife and told us more facts about them. Out of everything we saw, my favorite was the Keel-Billed Toucan, which is the same kind of bird that is of Froot Loops packages!
After hiking with a guide, we were able to take some time to explore on our own. During this time, we walked to the Continental Divide and the Hanging Bridge. This was a great chance to see different views of the cloud forest and take lots of photos!
This afternoon, we left the cloud forest to discuss Monteverde’s sustainability efforts with Evelyn Herrera. Hearing from Evelyn and the tour guides from both hikes gave me a better understanding of the competing interest of productivity, conservation, and sustainability. For example, Monteverde used to be exclusively dairy farming so that they could make and sell cheese. However, this was causing the farmers to clear parts of the forest in order to have pastures for the cows. So, in 1972, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve was created as an effort to restore the forest. Now, Monteverde is focused on conservation and sustainability for the cloud forest. Personally, I think that I would prioritize sustainability over productivity and conservation.
Monteverde has definitely faced challenges, especially related to climate change. When the Quakers first came to Monteverde, the forest experiences clouds and precipitation around 80% of the year. Now, this has dropped to 30-40% per year due to the increasing temperatures. In addition, like other parts of Costa Rica, Monteverde is trying to tackle the issues of pollution, water supply, and garbage.
Tomorrow, we will be participating in a service project by planting trees, attending another lecture, and heading back to Heredia. Hasta mañana!