Today I finally was able to experience the surreal hike through the cloud forest. My group and I saw rare birds, unique insects and even spider monkeys swinging through the trees. I can understand why George Powell along with other conservationists wanted to keep the cloud forest protected from deforestation and other threats. In all of Costa Rica 26% of the land is protected, but this is being threatened by tourism and development. Costa Rica and Monteverde must balance factors of economy, social and environmental to maintain sustainability. 

A speaker at the Monteverde Institute told us some of the initiatives they do to help support sustainability. They do research, community initiatives and academic programs. They have their own lab on site where they have people researching different birds, trees and other species. Their community initiatives include youth camps and other programs like adopt a stream to teach people the importance of sustainability. For their academic programs they have more classroom style teaching where they will have university and college groups come to learn about the biodiversity and sustainability efforts of Monteverde and Costa Rica. It is important for the cycle of sustainability that people are educated on why Monteverde and other places need to be preserved. 

If I had to prioritize the conservation, sustainability or production of the land I would choose sustainability. This is because when done right it can be the balance between production and conservation. In Monteverde the conservation efforts lead to more production of eco-tourism. This allows the surrounding economy to be simulated and the environment to be protected at the same time. Although it is a delicate balance and one side cannot be weighed over the other. The sustainability initiatives seen at the institute prove the balance is possible.