Children's Eternal Rainforest

The Children's Eternal Rainforest (Spanish: Bosque Eterno de los Niños) is a private land trust and preserve in Costa Rica. The 23,000-hectare (57,000-acre) preserve is run by the non-profit Monteverde Conservation League.

Children's Eternal Rainforest
El Bosque Eterno de los Niños
Children's Eternal Rainforest
Map showing the location of Children's Eternal Rainforest
Map showing the location of Children's Eternal Rainforest
LocationPuntarenas and Alajuela, Costa Rica
Coordinates10°20′23″N 84°42′0″W
Area22,600 ha (87 sq mi)
Established1987
OperatorMonteverde Conservation League
Websitehttps://acmcr.org/content/

History

The Monteverde Conservation League was formed in 1986 to counteract agricultural development threatening Pacific Slope forests near the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. After U.S. biologist Sharon Kinsman gave a presentation about the rainforests to a class of Swedish schoolteacher Eha Kern, the children raised funds to protect the forest.[1] Their efforts initially raised $18,000 for the forest.[2] Kern and her husband formed the Swedish non-profit Barnens Regnskog (Children's Rainforest) in 1987.[3]

By 1998 the Children's Eternal Rainforest was the largest private biological reserve in Central America, spanning 18,000 hectares (44,000 acres) in the Guanacaste, Alajuela, and Puntarenas provinces.[4]

Biology

The preserve's 23,000 hectares is one of the most biodiverse areas on Earth. It contains 450 species of birds, which is about 50% of Costa Rica's total avifaunal diversity,[5] including several well-known threatened species such as the resplendent quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno) and the bare-necked umbrellabird (Cephalopterus glabricollis). It also has the largest number of orchid species of any single location on Earth.[6] Because of the large altitudinal gradient and protected lands on both the Pacific and Caribbean slopes, species composition varies dramatically at different locations.[7]

An unknown fly; one of many thousands of species found in the Children's Eternal Rainforest

Mammal diversity is high with most large Costa Rican species surviving in the preserve including three species of monkey, two species of sloth, and all six species of cats found in Costa Rica. However, hunting pressure and habitat loss in surrounding areas has caused declines of a few mammals and local extirpation of others (e.g., white-lipped peccary, Tayassu pecari).[8]

Because of deforestation around the Tilarán Mountains, the Children's Eternal Rainforest and adjacent protected areas are now an island of natural habitat limiting dispersal of some animals. However, biological corridors connecting other nearby protected areas are still possible.[9]

Facilities

There are four locations for visitors to experience the preserve: Bajo del Tigre, San Gerardo Station, Pocosol Station, and Finca Stellar. All offer hiking trails in the forest and San Gerardo and Pocosol offer overnight lodging and meals. San Gerardo, located deep in the forest and overlooking the Arenal Volcano is a particularly scenic location with abundant wildlife.[10]

References
  1. Bautista, Guillermo Agudelo (30 July 2019). "The Children's Eternal Rain Forest: A Hidden Jewel in MonteVerde". The Costa Rica News.
  2. Taylor, Chris (24 April 2019). "The Thanos snap for real: Let's remove humans from half of Earth". Mashable.
  3. "Eha Kern & Roland Tiensuu". Goldman Environmental Foundation. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  4. Nadkarni, Nalini M.; Wheelwright, Nathaniel T. (9 March 2000). Monteverde: Ecology and Conservation of a Tropical Cloud Forest. Oxford University Press. pp. 363–364. ISBN 978-0-19-977097-7.
  5. Norris, Jeff (2016). "Biodiversity and Peace: Where Technology and Montessori Come Together in the Children's Eternal Rainforest, Costa Rica". NAMTA Journal. 41 (2): 63–80. ISSN 1522-9734.
  6. "About Us". ACMCR (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  7. Jankowski, Jill E.; Ciecka, Anna L.; Meyer, Nola Y.; Rabenold, Kerry N. (March 2009). "Beta diversity along environmental gradients: implications of habitat specialization in tropical montane landscapes". Journal of Animal Ecology. 78 (2): 315–327. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01487.x. PMID 19040686.
  8. Zamzow, Benjamin K.; Nieman, Sarah J.; Davis, Charli N.; Cruz, Martha Garro; Monroe, Allison; Stallcup, Lindsay; Moran, Matthew D. (January 2020). "Status of Large Terrestrial Vertebrates in the Monteverde-Arenal Bioregion, Northwestern Costa Rica". Tropical Conservation Science. 11 (1). doi:10.1177/1940082918809617. ISSN 1940-0829. S2CID 91777669.
  9. Moran, Matthew D.; Monroe, Allison; Stallcup, Lindsay (2019-12-09). "A proposal for practical and effective biological corridors to connect protected areas in northwest Costa Rica". Nature Conservation. 36: 113–137. doi:10.3897/natureconservation.36.27430. ISSN 1314-3301.
  10. "Monteverde Conservation League & Children's Eternal Rainforest" (PDF). San Gerardo Station. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-12.
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