Rainforest Aid Music Festival: Conservation Information

Conservation in Southern Costa Rica With over 25% of the country set aside to preserve wildlife & rainforest Costa Rica has lots to see. This humid region, in the pacific southwest, comprises some of the largest stands of rainforest in central America.

To contribute to a needed conservation effort contact any of the foundations, groups or hotels listed below. Find out about volunteering a few days of your vacation. Opportunities range from collecting turtle eggs, to feeding monkeys and baby sloths to planting trees. You can also work in local villages and help fix up schools and live with Costa Rican families.


Active Conservation Efforts in Costa Rica
Conservation in the Parks, Reserves and Refuges
Ballena National Marine Park A protected coastal strip sheltering mangove & wetland systems, and including offshore waters used by whales & other marine mammals.

Cano Island Biological Reserve A remote island covered with rainforest, an important Pre- Colombian site. Marine life offshore.

Corcovado National Park protects the last significant stand of virgin rainforest in Central America and is the second most biologically diverse eco system on Earth. With 100,000 acres, it is home to more plant & animal species than Central and North America combined, including tapirs, jaguars, crocodiles, and scarlet macaws. Still it is but one part of Costa Rica’s national system of parks & preserves. Nature, however, does not prosper in isolation, thus, to insure that the species of Corcovado and all the other parks survive, it is necessary to create connecting corridors that will provide critical migration routes guaranteeing continuation of their diversity. To hike through Corcovado, and explore its canopy is to appreciate first hand the necessity of preserving this unique eco system. Donating your time and /or money while visiting provides resources to help the local conservation groups to create "One More Strand in our Web of Life".

Piedras Blancas National Wildlife Refuge Contiguous with Corcovado, protects the watershed of the coastal mountains surrounding Golfito.

Conserving Costa Rica
Marine Life Costa Rica enjoys one of the most biologically diverse ocean ecosystems in the world. This is mainly because the heart of a vast habitat known as the Costa Rican Thermal Convection Dome (named for its proximity to this country), lies here. Shallow, warm waters lie on top of low-oxygen cold water, creating the perfect ecosystem for a vast variety of marine life. The dome off the coast of Costa Rica is the only one in the world that is constant. Whales, dolphins, tuna, marlin, manta rays, sea turtles, sailfish and more all congregate near the Costa Rican coasts, taking advantage of this year-round dome of ecologically rich waters.
www.fundelfin-costa-rica.org
More Info

Groups Making a Difference
Bosque del Cabo Lodge A rainforest lodge in a 500-acre private primary forest reserve perched along the picturesque cliffs of Cabo Matapalo. Located in the Osa National Wildlife Refuge in an area designated as protected wildlife habitat.
www.bosquedelcabo.com

Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) Andes To Amazon Botany Program: We are an international, multidisciplinary team of scientists, students, and local residents dedicated to studying organisms and their interactions with the environment. The major geographic focus of our work is in the Andes-Amazon region of southeastern Peru, with a replicate project in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica.
www.andesamazon.org

Conservation International Our mission is to conserve the Earth’s living heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB

El Remanso Lodge A wildlife lodge located in the Osa National Wildlife Refuge. Dedicated to forest and wildlife conservation this lodge boasts pristine tropical rainforest and stunning ocean views. www.elremanso.com

Friends of the Osa is a nonprofit organization committed to the preservation of the Osa peninsula’s biological diversity. We protect the Osa’s endangered wildlife species from hunting and habitat destruction, conserve its ecosystems, provide environmental education and skills training, forward tropical ecology research, and support sustainable livelihoods for local communities. www.osaconservation.org

La Escuela Nueva Hoja is non-profit private school for children PreKinder to 8th grade. The school was founded in 2005 and our first school year begins January 30, 2006.

We are located in Puerto Jimenez (next to the Puerto Jimenez Public Library), on the Osa Peninsula of Costa Rica.
www.nuevahoja.com

Ministry of Environment & Energy, Costa Rica (MINAE)

Osa Campaign Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, CR-USA Foundation for Development and the Government of Costa Rica came together in the Osa Campaign, an equally unique conservation and fundraising effort.
www.osacampaign.org

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Established in September 2000, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation seeks to develop outcome-based projects that will improve the quality of life for future generations.
www.moore.org

The Nature Conservancy Helped the Costa Rican government create the Osa’s Corcovado National Park in1975. Recently, TNC has renewed efforts on the Osa after identifying it as a conservation priority.
www.nature.org

Wildlife Conservation Society The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild lands through careful science, international conservation, education, and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks.
www.wcs.org

Women of the Osa (WOO) Woman of Osa is a group of committed volunteers founded purposely through Alvaro Ugalde’s efforts towards the Osa Campaign. These women who live on the southern Pacific coast of the Osa Peninsula and surrounding areas are striving for conservation, education and ecological awareness to preserve one of the most intense reservoirs of biodiversity on Earth.

Contact info@osapeninsulatravel.com for more information.