Biocultural Restoration of a Tropical Forest

Author(s): William H. Allen

Source: BioScience, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Mar., 1988), pp. 156-161
Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences
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Bioculturalrestoration of
Architects of Costa Rica's emerging GuanacasteNational Park
plan to make it an integralpart of local culture
ne hot, windy day last sum-
mer, Daniel Janzenleaned in
through the window of an
open-airschoolhousein northwestern
Costa Rica and called to the teacher.
The teacher left the blackboard,
where he had been working a math
problem. After chatting with the
teacherfor a few minutesin Spanish,
Janzen handed him a photocopied
note inviting the elementary school
studentsto attend a speech by Costa
Rican PresidentOscar Arias Sanchez
in which Ariaswas to reaffirmconser-
vation as one of the nation's top
priorities.The speechwould be given
at nearbySanta Rosa National Park,
where the class had already studied
naturalhistory as part of a new edu-
cationalprogram.The invitationwas
deliveredto severalother elementary
schools in the region, as well as to
farmers,politicians, and other local
residents.
For Janzen, a biologist at the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvaniain Philadel-
phia, this errand was another small
part of a plan to save and maintaina
large tropical forest-not a rain for-
est, but a dry forest. Janzen is the
majorforce behindan ambitiousproj-
ect to establishGuanacasteNational
Park,a 75,000-hectarereservenamed
afterits host provinceand the nation-
al tree.UsingSantaRosa as a nucleus,
the parkis beingpiecedtogetherfrom
deforested land and existing forest
(See box, p. 158). With a mix of
traditionaland innovative ecological
restoration techniques, the project
aims to return the land to its pre-
conquistadorstate, with securenum-
bers of the area's original flora and
fauna.
by William H. Allen
156
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a tropical
Biocultural restoration:
philosophy
Although the Guanacaste project may
be the single most significant ecologi-
cal restoration effort in the neotro-
pics, its emphasis on biocultural res-
toration is also noteworthy. Rather
than planting trees, the thrust of bio-
cultural restoration is to embed bio-
logical understanding in the local cul-
ture by encouraging interaction
between the park and nearly 40,000
neighbors. The potential rewards for
local residents in particular and Costa
Rica in general are economic and
environmental, but most importantly
they are intellectual, Janzen argues.
During 25 years of ecological re-
search in Costa Rica, Janzen has ob-
served the development of the Guana-
caste region from a "frontier society
to a thoroughly agriculturalized one."
He has hired residents as field assis-
tants, given lectures to local groups,
and chatted with Costa Ricans from
all walks of life. Although upward
mobility in Guanacaste is limited and
formal schooling minimal, the entire
population is literate and displays
great curiosity, he says. "The public is
starving for and responds immediate-
ly to presentations of complexity of
all kinds-biology, music, literature,
politics, education, et cetera." In
Guanacaste, Janzen sees an opportu-
nity to feed hungry intellects and
simultaneously save a forest.
"The goal of biocultural restora-
tion is to give back to people the
understanding of the natural history
around them that their grandparents
had," Janzen says. "These people are
now just as culturally deprived as if
they could no longer read, hear mu-
sic, or see color." Thus the park must
be developed into what Janzen calls a
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forest
"user-friendly" social institution that
contributes to daily life, just as do
libraries,hospitals, and schools.
In addition to the intellectual di-
mension of biocultural restoration,
the parkwill offerother, morepracti-
cal assets. The park, for example,
encompasses a watershed that pro-
vides drinking and irrigation water
and contains genetic stocks valuable
to Costa Rica's future. The Guana-
caste area will benefit from money
acquired as a result of the park's
education,research,and tourismpro-
grams. For instance, the region cur-
rentlyabsorbssome $200,000 a year,
thanksto researchprojectswhose re-
quirements range from supplies to
field assistants. Janzen predicts the
figurewill top $1 million as the park
evolves and attractsmore scientists.
However, materialgoods and uses
should not be assignedtoo much sig-
nificance, says Janzen. "This is not
the basis on which a park should be
established,"he says. "If it is, you're
always going to lose it becausesome-
body is going to come along someday,
probably five to ten years from now,
with an economic use that is better
than whatever the use is you come up
with."
"If Guanacaste National Park is to
survive into perpetuity, it must be
viewed with unanimous favor by a
diverse array of political, economic,
and cultural factions," Janzen says.
"In my experience, people do not
wish to destroy complexity that
doesn't threaten them, and in fact
they very aggressively seek it out."
Biocultural restoration:
methodology
The essence of biocultural restoration
is to make the park into a "living
BioScience Vol. 38 No. 3
A view of Santa Rosa National Park,which would be the nucleusof the proposedGuanacasteNational Park.The park is being
piecedtogetherfrom deforestedland and existing forest fragments.Photos:WilliamH. Allen.
classroom"-through programs for
gradeschool, high school, and univer-
sity students;civic groups; and tour-
ists from Costa Rica and elsewhere.
The park'splan also calls for encour-
aging independentexplorationof the
park, awarding trips to other pre-
serves, and assigninglay apprentices
to teachers,researchers,and officials
workingin the park.
Guanacasteis to become an inte-
gral arm of the traditional school
systemby teachingecology and natu-
ral history in the park itself, with
professionalCosta Ricanbiologistsas
teachers.The formal education pro-
gram,begunin March 1987 and sup-
portedby grantsfromtheJessieSmith
Noyes Foundationin New YorkCity
and the C. S. Fundin Freestone,Cali-
fornia,drawsupon knowledgegained
during more than two decades of
research in the region, as well as
tropicalbiologicalresearchpublished
aroundthe world. Findingsfrom the
park's ongoing research programs
will be incorporateddirectlyinto the
March 1988
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teaching effort. "The teaching pro-
gram is intended to be as much a part
of the park as is an entrance road,
beach, visitor center, or block of vir-
gin forest," Janzen says.
Until the teaching program started,
Santa Rosa received irregular visits
from local school and university
groups and from graduate students
taking courses through the Organiza-
tion for Tropical Studies in San Jose,
Costa Rica, as well as various US
universities. Now, two Costa Rican
biologists run the program full time,
and up to five may be needed when
the program reaches maturity. Plans
call for several thousand grade and
high school students in the region to
visit the park for a full day of field
biology at least once a year. Research
scientists in the park get involved in
the program by making guest appear-
ances in the classroom or by leading
field trips. A program for adult mem-
bers of the local community is
planned. Although oriented toward
local residents, the park's educational
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I
systemalso will be a rich resourcefor
other Costa Ricans as well as foreign
tourists.
Already,teachershave become fo-
cal points for local activities other
than biological education.For exam-
ple, one teacher, Giovanni Bassey, a
marinebiologist based at Cuajiniquil
(a coastal fishingvillageon the north-
ern boundary of the park), fills the
roles of biology teacher, scientific
consultant,park public relationsoffi-
cial, and civic leader.Within a month
of beginninghis job last September,
Bassey was invited to chair the vil-
lage's civic committeeand was asked
by several villagers about the best
places to build houses and set nets.
"IntheoryGiovanniis doing the same
thing our teacher inside the park is
doing-just teaching basic biology,"
says Janzen. "But he's also a major
contact point between the park and
the fishermen."
The teachers,who have solid oral
communicationskills in additionto a
stronggraspof biology, usuallyspend
157
 Ecological restoration
The Guanacaste National Park project in northwestern Costa Rica is an
eleventh-hour effort to save one of tropical America's last dry forests.
The aim of the $11.8-million project is to take existing dry forest return to the central point and sepa-
fragments in Guanacaste Province and restore to intact condition ap- rate the items into species. Afterwards
proximately 75,000 hectares of topographically diverse land, which will the class discusses what a species is
support the animal and plant species that predated the arrival of the and why fruits and seeds vary in
Spaniards in the 16th century. The habitat is primarily dry forest, shape, size, color, and other traits.
although a significant portion of the area is a rain forest refugium for "When we go into the field, I try to
animals in the dry season. Bisected by the Pan-American Highway, the ask them questions to make them
proposed park area has beaches, islands, two volcanos, serpentine ridges, think, instead of just telling them
volcanic mesas, seasonal watercourses, and ever-flowing rivers. about what they're seeing," says Liz
Ecological restoration of the park is already under way. Trees are being Brenes, the teacher based at Santa
planted, and fire-control efforts, including establishment of fire lanes, Rosa. "I want to help them under-
have begun. Hunting is prohibited because it threatens seed-dispersing stand the importance of a national
animals. A moderate amount of livestock grazing is planned to control park and why they have to take care
jaragua, a dense African grass that blocks the growth of young trees, of natural resources."
fuels fires, and provides cover for rodents that consume tree seeds. Following lunch, the group is led
Scientists expect a closed canopy throughout much of the park in two to on a two-hour tour of different forest
five decades. Within 100 years, the park should be largely free of grass, types, discussing the plants, animals,
and, in 300 years, it is expected to be an intact forest. and patterns they encounter. The day
Fundraising, land purchases, and organization of the park's manage- ends with another lecture in a com-
ment structure have progressed steadily since the project was publicly fortable part of the forest or at the
announced in February 1986 at the National Zoological park in Wash- park's teaching center. By 4:00 P.M.,
ington, DC (BioScience 37:83). Land purchases are made by the Funda- the class is on its way home. Some
ci6n Neotr6pica, a Costa Rican conservation organization that works school groups are chosen for repeat
closely with government agencies and political officials to obtain the sessions based on their talent and
lowest possible price. All land bought for the park automatically enthusiasm.
becomes property of the Fundacion, which will transfer it to the Servicio The program aims to inspire biolo-
de Parques Nacionales, the Costa Rican park service, when acquisition is gy-related activities at the schools
complete. themselves, as well as deeper interac-
By mid-1987, about half of the proposed park had been declared tion with tropical nature by students,
national park and half was in "zona protectora" status, a legal condition teachers, and parents. The forest res-
in which logging and other destructive activities are banned. Of the total toration and inventory projects draw
75,000 hectares, 46% was owned by the project and a down payment these and other citizens into the park
had been put on another 19%. Completion of the purchase depends on by offering them nonpaying, research
further fundraising. technician apprenticeships. These
projects involve locating seed crops;
collecting, cleaning and planting
two days a week absorbinginforma- park at 7:30 A.M. "They take a short, seeds; recording seedling fates; and
tion about the biology of the area. one-hour walk through a patch of inventorying insects and plants. Ap-
They read, engagein long discussions forest on a winding trail, stopping prenticeships to park personnel,
with researchers,and activelypartici-frequently to look closely at orga- which would involve caring for hors-
pate in other courses given in the nisms and patterns," Janzen says. The es, clearing trails, managing the en-
park, such as the three-week,gradu- teacher tells them straightforward trance kiosk, and cutting and burning
ate-level field ecology course Janzenstories about the natural history of fire lanes, could lead to apprentice
teaches each March. They generally some of the very conspicuous trees, and professional positions as natural-
spend three days a week teaching insects, birds, and mammals, as op- ist guides for tourists.
schoolchildrenwho come to the park, portunity strikes." As the educational program
transportedeither by local police or Arriving at a central location, the evolves, it will expand to include two-
by arearesidents.The projectplans to group listens to a short lecture about day or longer field classes with more
purchasea microbusearly in 1988 to the biology of a particular group of complex teaching projects, during
transportstudents. organisms chosen as the focus for the which the students will remain in the
morning. For example, in April, the park. Some field classes will move out
topic might be the fruits and seeds of the Santa Rosa nucleus to explore
Teaching and exploring maturing on the forest floor. After the regions around three recently com-
A typicalday for a Guanacasteteach- lecture, the students are sent out for a pleted biological research stations on
er begins when a class of about 16 half-hour to gather as many kinds of and around Volcan Cacao and Volcan
grade school students arrives at the fruits and seeds as they can find. They Orosi in the park's eastern section.

158 BioScience Vol. 38 No. 3

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Displaysand museumexhibitswill be
created at various locations in the
park.A regionallibrarywill be devel-
oped in Liberia,the provincial capi-
tal. Parkpersonnelwill encouragethe
growth of natural history clubs, in-
cluding bird-watchingand butterfly-
collectinggroups.

Increasing Guanacaste's
prospects for survival
Althoughthe primaryaim of the edu-
cational program is to expose the
local population to natural history
and thus enhance biological under-
standing,it also is crucialto the sur-
vival of Guanacaste National Park. Daniel Janzen (left) talks with Costa Rican PresidentOscar Arias Sanchez (center)
"The most practicaloutcome is that duringa visit by Ariasto SantaRosa National Parkon 25 July 1987. In a speech,Arias
this programwill beginto generatean affirmedconservationas one of the nation's top priorities.He signed proclamations
ongoing populace that understands annexingpartof the SantaElenaPeninsulato SantaRosa and grantingzona protectora
biology," Janzen says. "In 20 to 40 status to anothermajorportion of land sought for GuanacasteNational Park.
years, these childrenwill be running
the park, the neighboringtowns, the m l Ia

irrigation systems, the political sys- managerscreatea detailedzoning sy- accessibility. The Pan-American
tems. When someone comes along tem, developed with the park's bio- Highwayis an ideal startingpoint for
with a decision to be made about logical peculiaritiesin mind. In addi- this road system, which, properly
conservation,resource management, tion, a good system of trails and constructed and maintained, should
or anythingelse, you want that per- seasonal and all-weatherroads must not be a major barrier to animal
son to understandthe biologicalpro- be establishedto enhance the park's movement.
cesses that are behind that decision
becausehe or she knew about them
[since]grade school."
Touristsalso will benefit from the
park'seducationprogram.Janzenex-
pects Guanacasteto become a major
touristattractionbecauseof its beau-
ty and its intellectual offerings. For
the parkto becomemorethan a quick
stopoveron the tourist route, howev-
er, living facilities and other tourist
services must be developed. He has
appealedto privateindividualsin the
area to accomplishthis task. Mean-
while, Janzen also is pushing for "a
smallamountof dry forestaffirmative
I
action" so the naturalhistory tourist ' ' _F:-'
'
" " * -"
'.^' ? ' ''
world does not think of Costa Rica ,"'* j i ,! L '. 4ji A ', 1
solely as a rain forest mecca.
If the park is to be used heavily by v
-0: j ?. .:-'. . ' .. . '

tourists,scientists,educators,and stu- gFVt;

.. . . '?-
t~~~,f@e '-:kr*.-
..*'a'.. .*l,
dents,these groups,which often have ? : ~ ? ,. ~. ,.: ? . .., .~ .~,~:~~.:~<~:~;:~ ,. .
",
' ~ . ....

conflicting interests, must be kept

from trippingover one another,even
within a park as large as Guanacaste. buildingatop VolcanCacaoon
The newlyconstructeddormitory-laboratory-classroom
Thus,Janzenhas proposed that park land purchasedfor the proposedpark.

March 1988 159

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Horsesgrazingin SantaRosa National Park.Along with cows and otheranimals,they
are expectedto play an importantrole in dispersingtree seeds throughoutGuanacaste
National Park.
Local management
Just as the education program con-
tributesto bioculturalrestorationby
offeringthe parkto the people, Guan-
acaste'smanagementplan contributes
by applying the knowledge, energy,
and spiritof the local people to long-
term and day-to-day park manage-
DanielJanzenpinningmoths in the cabinwherehe lives six monthsof the yearin Santa
Rosa National Park.
160
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ment. Although many residents will
need trainingin biology and commu-
nicationskills,they alreadyare skilled
at suchtechnicalaspectsof parkman-
agementas fightingfires,constructing
fences, caringfor horses, maintaining
trails and buildings, herding cattle,
identifyingand understandingplants
and animals, and dealing with what
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I
Janzen calls "biotic challenges"-in-
cluding snakes, ticks, disease, thirst,
andwounds. Not only is hiringGuan-
acaste residentsa logical use of local
know-how, it also is establishingdi-
rect as well as subtle links between
the park and the province'seconomic
and social structures. This strategy
will bond the local communitymore
tightlyto the parkthan if parkservice
employees were brought in from
elsewhere.
About 50 area residentsare needed
for the early stages of park restora-
tion, some to perform management
tasks and others to do basic mainte-
nance. These workers will live pri-
marilyon parkhomesteads,theirchil-
drenwill go to local schools, and the
families will have access to the nor-
mal social life of the region. Those
who excel are expected to rise
through the ranks of the park's ad-
ministrativestructure,and some may
move into research and teaching
programs.
As of December1987, a total of six
managers of local haciendas pur-
chased to become part of the park
had been hiredas park site managers.
At Cerroel Hacha, purchasedin Jan-
uary 1987 (see box, p. 161), two
farmerswere hiredas managers.They
were allowed to stay in their houses
and cultivatea small portion of their
fields as a salary supplement. They
enlargedtheir houses into biological
stations, mapped vegetation on the
farms, and received training from a
local game warden on handling
poachersand public relations.
One of the ownersof a 200-hectare
parcelon VolcanCacaothat was pur-
chased for the park was hired to
continueliving in his remotehouse to
serve as a deputy to the warden.
PedroJose Mejia has since enlarged
his house and built an adjacentdor-
mitory-laboratory-classroom com-
plex with a majesticwestwardview of
the park and PacificOcean. Like the
residentmanagersat Cerroel Hacha,
Mejia provides food and shelter to
scientistswho use the biological sta-
tion as a base for researchand teach-
ing. The site also served as the loca-
BioScienceVol. 38 No. 3
 1 The sociology of a land purchase
tion for a three-day management
policy conference attended by 25
Costa Rican forest reserve managers
last fall.
Resisting formulas
The formula for ecologically and bio-
culturally restoring and maintaining
the forest that will become Guana-
caste National Park is home grown. It
was devised to match the particular
biological, political, economic, and
social circumstances of northwestern
Costa Rica today rather than to fulfill
some accepted model for national
parks.
The plan for the park evolved in a
practical and pragmatic way. During
his years in Guanacaste Province, Jan-
zen observed many "challenges" to
the biology of the tropical forest-
fire, hunting, logging, ranching, and
farming. His reaction was to look for
strategies to counter those particular
challenges.
"You don't have to go to some
international committee to get man-
agement started," he says. "It's all
been practical here. The statement
that a local farmer is the best person
to deal with fires and tree planting
can be converted to an ideal. You can
say, well, this is marvelous; this in-
volves local people. But you can also
be very practical and say that local
people are probably the best people
there are to do this."
When pressed, Janzen acknowl-
edges that some may use the Guana-
caste National Park formula as a
model for establishing tropical na-
tional parks in other parts of the
March 1988
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Even on the face of it, the deal Daniel Janzen arranged with 14 farm
families who owned land in the Cerro el Hacha area of the proposed
Guanacaste National Park was complicated. But it took more than an
ability to bargain over real estate to keep everyone smiling.
The pieces of the deal had come together over a year. First, Janzen
convinced the farmers to stop clearing forest until their property could be
bought for the park. Next, the project received a large grant from John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. More negotiations with the
farmers followed, this time about price and date of the sale.
But a subtle and dangerous issue remained. The farmers insisted on
receiving cash for their land. Janzen insisted that the transaction be
conducted within the walls of a bank in the nearby town of La Cruz and
that the farmers immediately deposit their proceeds in a savings account.
He made this demand to protect the farmers from robbery and to protect
himself and the park project from bad public relations.
"This is a patronistic society where a person in my position is expected
to have a sense of responsibility about the farmer," Janzen says, noting
that a farmer who was robbed would soon be asking for the farm back
and the park would be expected to help him. "A robbery would have
been viewed as partly my fault, and, furthermore, we would have had a
very upset person. Now the upset person might not have blamed me
personally, but he would nevertheless be very upset, which would then
mean that the community would see me as generating upset people."
The farmers acceded to Janzen's demand. He made arrangements with
the bank manager to open savings accounts on the spot and to keep the
bank open as long as necessary for the transactions.
On 23 January 1987, a special table was set up on one side of the bank
lobby. Various legal documents and several suitcases full of one-thou-
sand-colone bills covered it. Behind the table sat officials from Fundaci6n
Neotr6pica, the Costa Rican conservation organization that coordinates
land purchases for the park. Janzen, the chief engineer of the event, stood
in the background "taking pictures," as he says.
The farmers filed in, counted out their colones, carried armfuls across
the lobby to the teller windows, opened accounts, and deposited their
money-sums of as much as a million colones (about $16,000). The
result: more land for the park, no robberies, and a lot of happy farmers.
"They all walked out of there with passbooks in their hands, and I know
that at least six of them still have those accounts," Janzen says.
world. But this would be as erroneous you have rather than reading some-
as if Guanacaste had been modeled one else's book." D
after Yosemite National Park in Cali-
fornia, he says. "You've got to sit WilliamH. Allen is a sciencewriterbased
down and look at the circumstance in Urbana,Illinois.
161
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