One Jungle at a Time

Our small tour bus wound its way up and through a misty mountain pass from the Pacific side of Costa Rica to the Caribbean coast. We peered out through the fogged up windows at dense vegetation dripping with warm rain. Our tour guide, Inti, talked about the country’s remarkable biodiversity and how specialized many of the creatures were. We were excited, It was our first full day. When we started our descent, the contrast was startling. Once lush jungles had been cleared to make way for endless miles of banana plantations and meagre looking cattle farms. It felt hot and oppressive without the heavy tree canopy. Cheap metal housing for plantation laborers could be seen down long, dusty roads. 

The soil in most jungles isn’t suitable for large scale agriculture and after the trees have been cut and burned erosion becomes a big problem. Raising cattle isn’t very lucrative, but it is a common way for people to try to eke out a living. Heaps of garbage lined the road and Inti pointed out that the large blue plastic bags covering the bananas, to prevent them from ripening too quickly, often ended up in the ocean after heavy rains. The plastic bags are responsible for killing an alarming amount of wildlife, including sea turtles.

It was hot, I was sweating and I was feeling more and more depressed as I looked out the window. I had asked a good friend, an accomplished world traveler who organizes trips, “Where should we take our 14 year old before he’s too cool to go anywhere with his parents?” Her response was “Costa Rica, it will blow his mind”. We had spent so much time and energy to get there and so far the take away was a familiar story: Humans ruin everything. 

After several hours we turned onto a long, bumpy, gravel road in a nondescript residential neighborhood. People peered curiously at us from the road side and the front porches of their homes. We stopped at an unremarkable, tall metal gate. Ferns and vines and trees pressed against the fencing from the inside. A sign said “Pierella Ecological Garden”. The tall gate opened, the bus stopped, and we stumbled out of it in a daze. Inti immediately pointed to Cocoa trees, a pair of Toucans, a lizard and several big, beautiful, blue butterflies. The amount of wildlife within a ten foot radius was staggering. I thought immediately of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory…except instead of lickable wallpaper and everlasting gobstoppers there were leaf bugs, and bats and lizards and poison dart frogs.

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William, the owner, was a good friend of our guide Inti. Inti explained to us that his friend had single handedly reforested the 7 acre cattle farm he had inherited from his father. The risk had been enormous. New laws prevent landowners from taking land that once was logged and has reverted back to jungle from being cleared again. When he began his project, William had been the ridiculed by his neighbors. 20 years later he has created a remarkable wildlife sanctuary and ecological garden. He successfully raises and sells native Costa Rican butterflies, exotic insects and frogs to zoos and butterfly gardens all over the world. His home is a remarkable example, to all of his neighbors, of how to live in harmony with his environment vs fighting it. His family also hosts and educates hundreds of visitors every year.

It is no exaggeration to say that everywhere we turned there were ridiculously amazing plants and creatures. William pointed out an underground bird’s nest I would never would have seen with baby chics huddled together in the dark, he turned over a banana leaf to reveal 4 tiny white fruit bats fast asleep. We saw poison dart frogs, large striking Blue Morfo butterflies, cockroaches the size of my palm. Near the end of our tour Inti shouted loudly, pointing upwards to the top of the tallest tree on the property exclaiming “Look! There are two Green Macaws – there are only 30 mating pairs left in the wild. I can’t believe it!”. William explained that he had simply planted the tree that grew the nut they liked and they started showing up. It was the same approach he had used with every living thing on the property. He grew the plants they liked, he created a safe space for them and they rewarded him by thriving.

For over fifteen years I have worked in an industry that refers to undeveloped land as “raw”, something to be developed and tamed. I cleared a portion of the 5 acres I currently live on to build my home. Witnessing William’s intimate relationship to the 7 acres he lives on was deeply moving. Instead of fighting his environment, he collaborated with it and in the process brought a jungle back to life. It has made me reconsider the relationship I have with my own back yard…and the miracles one patient, determined person can accomplish.