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Hi. I’m Kazumi Haag, and I am a summer intern for OneNature. I spent a week in Monteverde, Costa Rica, with Earthwatch and wanted to share a bit about my adventure. Costa Rica is a country that deeply values conservation and agroforestry. As soon as I stepped off the plane, there was an advertisement to protect marine life. The economy relies heavily on ecotourism, such as guided hikes. On my first day in Monteverde, I visited a certified organic coffee farm and one that was “bird-friendly.” This “bird-friendly” label is the Smithsonian’s environmental gold standard. It means the farm uses a high diversity of trees to shade the coffee plants and preserves critical habitats for birds and other animals.
I was in Costa Rica to work with Dr. Valerie Peters in her work on bee conservation. Her work is critical to understanding Costa Rica’s successful approach to agriculture and biodiversity and how it could be applied to the US. I spent the week collecting bees for her to return to her lab at Eastern Kentucky University. There are 20,000 bee species worldwide; over 650 of these species call Costa Rica home. Valerie has many sites at different elevations, which is key to collecting diverse species.
I participated in Costa Rica’s ecotourism through a night hike and a guided tour of the Monteverde Cloud Preserve. I saw a troupe of coatis, a pit viper, and a pygmy rain frog. I also saw many birds, including a bellbird, two quetzals, and a motmot. I saw many strangling fig trees, which are hemiepiphytes, a type of plant that spends a part of its life as an epiphyte and eventually grows roots downward into the ground. Strangling fig trees slowly kill the host tree and creates a hollow inside surrounded by walls of their roots. A conservation issue the preserve is currently facing is that the quetzal chicks, nesting in artificial nests made by scientists, are being eaten by a species of vampire bat, which is also endangered. The guide explained that scientists are grappling with how to save both species.
Along with the bee part of this project, I also helped to plant a plot of native plants. Along with three others, this plot will be used as an experiment to see what bees like certain native plants most. Also, to see what this area of native plants will look like over a decade in terms of growth and characteristics.
According to the USDA, “agroforestry is the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits.” Costa Rica is home to many indigenous tribes, including the Bribri and the Cabécar. The Bribri and Cabécar peoples practice agroforestry in the Talamanca region of Costa Rica and have been doing so for about a thousand years. In Spanish, this practice is called “fincas integrales,” and the goal is to recreate the diversity and abundance of the forest. The larger trees shade the fruit trees, which shelter medicinal plants and smaller crops, allowing native wildlife and livestock to flourish.
In other regions of Costa Rica, non-indigenous peoples practice agroforestry through living fences, windbreaks, and other practices. Living fences are created by grafting young saplings with barbed wire so the trees act as fence posts. Windbreaks are created by larger trees for the smaller plants beyond them. In contrast, the U.S. is a majority monoculture agriculture society and, as a result, lacks the benefit of using agroforestry. In 1996, Costa Rica banned deforestation and now pays farmers to practice agroforestry. The farmers get a better crop yield by integrating their farms into the ecosystem and local forests. If the U.S. began to practice agroforestry, we could slow our deforestation practices.
It was a great experience that was eye-opening, inspiring, and empowering for me to learn more about the field of conservation. I am excited to learn more about the relationships between people and wildlife during my time with OneNature this summer!
Image by: Etienne Delorieux via Unsplash.