Costa Rica

Overview

Active grantees: 6
IAF commitment: $1,384,890
Counterpart value: $1,348,559
Total investment: $2,733,449
Areas of emphasis: Agriculture/food production (organic), conservation, corporate social investment, enterprise development, the environment, resource mobilization, inclusion of indigenous peoples.

Contact information:

Margaret Francis, Foundation Representative
Julia Toscano, Program Assistant
Ana Carmona, Local Liaison 

Active Grantees 

Asociación Fondo Comunitario Monteverde para el Desarrollo Sostenible (FCM) plans to raise funds from visitors and local businesses to finance small grants supporting community-based initiatives consistent with a strategic plan developed in collaboration with other organizations in the municipality of Monteverde. The project will involve 285 residents directly; an additional 6,000 will benefit from the eventual investment in grassroots development.

Cooperativa Autogestionaria de Servicios Profesionales para la Solidaridad Social, R.L (CoopeSoliDar) will work with fishers in Dominicalito toward the community's management of a marine reserve, develop the Red de Pesca as a nationwide organization and educate the public on small-scale fishing along the Pacific Coast. The project will directly involve 2,200 fishers and their families and will impact another 5,000 area residents. 

Asociación de Organizaciones del Corredor Biológico Talamanca Caribe (ACBTC), providing technical assistance to African descendant farmers in Talamanca, will renovate their cacao plants, work toward certification of their farms as organic, cultivate native fruit trees, diversify their crops and organize to market their products. The project will directly benefit at least 125 Costa Ricans in the area south of Limon directly and another 700 will have access to healthier foods.

Asociación de Pescadores Artesanales del Caribe Sur (APACS) members will work together to encourage responsible fishing consistent with government guidelines and international standards, control predatory lion fish and develop the skills to represent their interests effectively. The project should benefit some 300 fishers and their families directly and 1,080 clients and students indirectly. A healthier coastal ecosystem should benefit tourists and the entire local population.  

Liga de Comunidades Unidas en Conservación del Agua (Liga Cuenca) will improve its protection of water sources by raising awareness of the importance of conservation, educating farmers about the danger of agrochemicals and setting up a loan fund to enable members to acquire watershed land. Borrowers will repay the loan principal in full; work to restore and protect the properties purchased will serve as interest. Volunteers from participating communities will plant trees and teach about conservation in local schools. The initiative should benefit 13,000 residents of Alfaro Ruiz.

Asociación Centro de Derecho Ambiental y de los Recursos Naturales (CEDARENA), in coordination with the Frente Nacional de Sectores Afectados por la Producción Piñera (FRENASSAP), will support 12 communities to monitor their water supply, develop and implement a community health surveys, and host public-private dialogues on environmental sustainability. About 200 persons from Pococí, Siquirres and Guácimo will participate in the activities and approximately 100,000 persons will benefit indirectly.