Agro-Ecotourism Project in the Biolley District, Costa Rica
Case Study C0173
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| Date | February 2006 |
| Agency | Asociacion de Productores La Amistad (ASOPROLA) |
| Donor/support agency | German Government Corporacion Educativa para el Desarrollo Costarricense (CEDECO) The Nature Conservancy Raleigh International Others |
| Project type | Implemented by agency |
| Context(s) | Protected area Productive landscape |
| Geographic coverage | Costa Rica |
| Locality | Biolley community, Buenos Aires district, province of Puntarenas |
| Biodiversity focus | Ecosystem/landscape |
| Development focus | Local communities |
| Conservation goals | Conserve natural resources |
| Poverty reduction goals | Generate income for the residents of the Biolley community |
Summary
La Amistad Producers Association (Asociación de Productores La Amistad - ASOPROLA) works to protect the environment and generate income for the residents of the Biolley community in the Buenos Aires district of the province of Puntarenas in Costa Rica, an area that includes part of the buffer zone of La Amistad International Park. Rural community agrotourism combines ecological community tourism and sustainable eco-friendly production, offering new alternatives such as the production, processing, and marketing of certified organic and fair trade coffee. ASOPROLA promotes organic farming to produce healthy and good quality crops and by diversifying the farms, helps the small organic farmers of the association become more self-sufficient and improve the quality of their lives. More specifically, 'Agro-Ecotourism Project in the Biolley District, Costa Rica' was developed to achieve the folllowing objectives: promote ecological and community tourism for the Biolley district, exloiting resources such as La Amistad International Park and community attractions, to produce an alternate source of income that will contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the population; promote measures to protect, conserve, and recover the natural resources in the farms and protected areas through environmental education, volunteer work, and the use of renewable resources that benefit the environment; generate jobs and income for the families within the community to reduce out migration; involve more people in the production process and environmental conservation through training, exchanges, and information sessions. This was the first project in the mountains of southern Costa Rica to start organic farming in order to improve the health of the population, preserve the environment, and increase the income of small producers.
Conservation impact
None/Not known
Poverty reduction impact
Some of the accomplishments achieved by the project to date are: creation of greenhouses for the production of organic vegetables for consumption and sale; construction of agro-ecotourism trails to view organic horticulture, organic coffee, reforestation, primary and secondary forests, rivers, waterfalls, biodiversity, panorama vistas, and farmlands; opening of a small restaurant that uses produce from the farm.
Strategy for Conservation/Poverty Linkages
Ecoagriculture
Local conservation enterprise opportunities
Reference 1
http://www.eco-index.org/search/results.cfm?projectID=752
More information
Jose Antonio Vargas Monge
Phone: +506/743-1184
E-mail: asoprola@racsa.co.cr
Related records above this one:
- The Nature Conservancy (TNC) (Organisation O0078)