Cloud Forest Conservation and the Cloud Forest School

Neotropical cloud forests are situated atop mountains where unusual climatic conditions interact to produce frequent mist and cloud cover. Year-round precipitation makes exuberant and diverse plant life possible, which, in turn, creates habitat for other unique organisms. One hundred years ago, the mountain ranges forming the “backbone” of Costa Rica were abundantly covered in evergreen forest, draped in the clouds. Since the construction of the Panamerican highway in the 1940’s, deforestation has eaten away at these habitats as people expanded agricultural areas and exploited forests for lumber. Luckily, Costa Rica’s present national park system and thriving ecotourist industry provide incentives and protection mechanisms for the remaining cloud forest.

In Monteverde, the economic as well as the intrinsic value of biodiversity are manifest; their importance is rarely questioned. Virtually every resident is in some way connected to the land, to ecotourism, to the forest. Monteverde is no utopia and there are some immense hurdles ahead for conservation and education. However, there are tangible signs of growing environmental appreciation, and of concern for people’s economic and spiritual well being. The Cloud Forest School is one such sign. The Cloud Forest School is privileged to own 106 acres of pristine cloud forest, legally protected by the first-ever conservation easement in Costa Rica.

Forest types
The two principal types of forest on the CEC property are known as Pacific slope premontane wet forest and lower montane wet forest (a type of cloud forest), both of which are endangered habitat types in Costa Rica. Premontane wet forest is relatively rare, having been lost to cattle and coffee farming. Lower montane wet forest occurs in isolated patches over various mountain ranges, and is threatened by climate change. On the CEC property, the building sites, regenerating areas, and other regions extending up to 1470 m are located on what was originally premontane wet forest. Above 1470 m, there is both pristine and regenerating lower montane wet forest.

Biological diversity
Premontane and lower montane wet forests are highly diverse in plant and animal life. Canopies commonly possess fruit-producing trees, including members of the Lauraceae, Symplicaceae, Sapotaceae, Fabaceae, and Moraceae, which are renowned for their mammalian and avian seed-dispersers and their involvement in complex species interactions. Lower montane wet forest harbors more orchid species than any other single habitat of the area, with well over 150 species. Eleven of these orchid species are endemic to lower montane wet forest; that is, they have never been found anywhere else.

Migratory organisms
CEC forest provides very important habitat for migratory organisms. Remnant forest patches and corridors along the Pacific slope are used by butterflies and birds, which move altitudinally according to seasons and food supply. Migratory birds of note that can be observed include Resplendant Quetzals, Three-Wattled Bellbirds, and Swallow-Tailed Kites.