A Breeding Land Becomes a Tropical Reserve in Costa Rica

San Jose, Costa Rica (AP) – Are you looking for adventure? Do you like nature as much as voluntary activities? Then, you are a perfect candidate for proyecto Asís in Costa Rica, where among streets and sport complexes, one organization is fighting to preserve approximately four hectares of primary forest and lakes.

The reserve, in the northern area of Costa Rica, is a pioneer in Central America. With a staff of four people, they have successfully transformed a land used for cattle breeding into a tropical forest redoubt.

Jaime del Castillo, one of the pioneers, explained that the project started six years ago with the idea of recovering part of the forest that had been lost in the area due to the cattle breeding activity.

Located 116 kilometers north from the capital, in the town called Javillos de Florencia in San Carlos, proyecto Asís has become a refuge for hundreds of species of animals such as birds, mammals, reptiles and insects.

Now, if you are interested in improving your Spanish, you will be in the right place. They offer a Spanish school as part of the project for those foreigners who want to learn this language in the middle of nature, and contribute with voluntary work for the development of a community at the same time Currently, six Australian students are taking part of the project: they live with families of the region and spend their studying time surrounded by raccoons, squirrels and birds.

The reserve focuses on the protection and reproduction of unique species in environments like lakes, woods and rivers, del Castillo said.

“We are interested in life and making people aware of the relation that we should have with nature, especially from the experiential point of view”, he said.

Proyecto Asís is not open to a massive audience because they want to avoid excessive human intervention in the animals’ habitats, but those who want to visit or do some scientific research are welcome, too.

Turtles, fish, alligators, caimans, butterflies, ferrets, chestnut horses, raccoons, squirrels, monkeys, snakes, insects, birds and even sloth are some of the common species that live in this refuge located 300 meters above sea level.

This project is financed with the incomes from the Spanish school and with the inversion and the work of its owners that expect “to change the aesthetic patterns of humans for the aesthetic patterns of nature”.

This article is a translation from a CNN's source issued on Jun 7th of 2002