For our adventure today, we walked through Monteverde’s beautiful cloud forest reserve. Originally, the Quakers tore down numerous trees in Monteverde to create space for their community’s endeavors, but it was later turned into an area dedicated to conservation. It was thrilling to see all the rich biodiversity that Costa Ricans work so hard to preserve. We saw many different types of fauna such as birds, bats, bugs, snakes, and monkeys. The paths allowed us to immerse ourselves in the environment without disturbing the animals and their habitat.
After our hike, we went to the Monteverde Institute which is a place that prides itself on sustainability. Here we learned about how sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainability incorporates a balance of the economy, society, and the environment. The Monteverde Institute works to improve sustainability knowledge through their three pillars: Community, Education, and Research. It can be hard for individuals and companies to decide whether they prioritize productivity, conservation, or sustainability because they want to maximize profit and convenience but they also don’t want to endanger the world as they do that. At this point in our world, I think the most important of these three to prioritize is sustainability. Our world is being used up as we know it, and it is so detrimentally important to consider the future. Due to sustainability’s balance of the economy, society, and the environment, we are able to prioritize many needs at once, even if we have to slightly compromise other needs.
Some unique challenges regarding sustainability for Monteverde is that dairy farming was the original way that the community made their profit. Dairy farming is not a sustainable practice because it involves the destruction of land, greenhouse gas emissions, and water pollution, all of which making a lasting negative impact on our Earth. Eventually, they realized the necessity of biodiversity and wildlife in Monteverde and drastically cut back on deforestation and worked to reforest the destructed areas. This is now known as the cloud forest reserve we visited today!