cloud forest school
by Tim Willmott : Comments Off on cloud forest school
It starts and it ends here, with education. Not tests, and tests, and tests, and exams, but the window to wisdom, to understanding. Here’s just one that represents all.
The vision of the Cloud Forest School in Costa Rica is a sustainable future for the Earth through educating individuals to love, respect and protect the natural environment, to strive for justice and peace as well as academic excellence and to work towards conserving biodiversity and enriching community life. We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
The Cloud Forest School is located in Monteverde, a community in the picturesque Tilarán Mountain Range in northwestern Costa Rica, on the doorstep of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve and the Arenal-Monteverde Conservation Network, measuring more than 90,000 hectares (220,000 acres). The Monteverde community is an average of 1,300–1,500 meters above sea level (4,200–5,000 feet) and is home to roughly 6,000 permanent residents.This area was first settled in the late 1930’s and 40’s by pioneering Costa Rican families whose main economy was subsistence agriculture. In the early 1950’s a group of sixty Quakers arrived from Alabama, named it Monteverde, took the initial step toward cloud forest conservation and began dairy farming as a means of livelihood.
In recent years, the growth of eco-tourism has provided economic alternatives, and fewer local people are making a living from dairy farming. The area is still very rural and the majority of the roads are unpaved. Many residents do not have cars, so walking, motorcycles and taxis are the most common forms of transportation. There is a daily bus service to the seaport town of Puntarenas (2 hours away) and to the capital city of San José (3-4 hours away).
People find Monteverde a dynamic and interesting place in which to live and work. The remarkable cloud forest ecology and climate have drawn scientists, educators, artists, writers, and musicians from around the world to its mountaintop for years, adding a unique and diverse cultural element to the community. Local conservation efforts and ongoing biological research provide a stimulating and dynamic community environment to residents both short- and long-term.
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Article by Tim Willmott
Tim is the creator of sustainapedia.com and heads digital publisher Treading Lightly. His interests include nature and wild places, cooking, film, sport and music. He is a poet, writer and commentator.
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