As we all know, Monteverde is a stunning place. However, the best of Monteverde is what cannot be seen: its magnificent community spirit that is lived and enjoyed by all living creatures in this fantastic place.
This is a place where each individual puts its sand grain to help us all thrive.
However, this community spirit goes beyond a neighbor helping another. Monteverde has established since 2010 an organization that benefits all the people who live here: The Monteverde Community Fund.
But first is first, what is a Community Fund?
“Community foundations are grantmaking public charities that are dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined local geographic area. They bring together the financial resources of individuals, families, and businesses to support effective nonprofits in their communities.” (01)
The Creation of the Monteverde Community Fund
Monteverde was originally an isolated and remote community that received a scientific community and some tourists that came to see its unique cloud forests.
It was at first inhabited by a few Costa Rican families, and then, later on by several Quaker families that came in the ’50s (Check our History of Monteverde Part 1). These two distinctive groups combined to produce a unique community based on the common principles of peace among humans and harmony with nature.
In the ’70s the community created the first cloud forest reserve (Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve) to protect the water sources of the dairy-producing region. However, biologists were discovering the richness of its woods and scientific groups of people visited periodically the area.
Little by little Monteverde grew to be a big name in the biologists’ community, but also, and because of its unique beauty, a popular touristic place.
Tourism in Costa Rica started as a thriving industry in the late ’80s. And nowadays, Monteverde has a permanent population of a little over 6000 people and receives over 250,000 visitors a year.
Adapting to the Community’s Needs
This incredible growth has brought amazing things to the people, a lot of business, and general development.
And the initiative was clear — to find a way for Monteverde, its people, its businessmen and women, its organizations, schools, and all involved, to grasp the opportunities that the travel industry brings, covering the community needs and coping with whatever crisis may arise.
Where The Idea Comes From
The Center for Responsible Travel in Washington, D.C. and The Monteverde Institute, presented a conference on travelers' philanthropy in 2011, studying strategies to harness the dominant tourism sector and channel its resources fairly towards community-identified activities.
Technically, the idea of the Monteverde Community Fund was founded in 2010, but as a response to the 2011 conference, it was officially chartered and brought to life in 2012.
It grew from a simple notion shared by Monteverde inhabitants and the Monteverde Institute: Together, we can do greater good. This also became the motto of the Monteverde Community Fund.
Today, the Monteverde Community Fund brings together varied resources, shareholders, and methods to support and promote long-term activities in the Monteverde region. The Fund has financed initiatives in the economic, social, and environmental sectors, as well as providing training and assistance to the project's local teams. It also gives local grassroots organizations monetary support, allowing them to focus on their areas of competence.
These grassroots organizations seek to have a high degree of effectiveness in areas such as climate action, literacy and education, theater arts, and solid waste, and partnerships with the Monteverde Community Fund allow them to thrive.
In all, the Monteverde Community Fund has turned into strong support for the locals and their small ventures. It fortifies the community by magnifying the different activities enhancing and multiplying their effects through the visitors that come in abundance to our forests.
The Early Days
However, it wasn’t always like that! Although the Quakers as much as the Costa Ricans know the value of real community and generosity, for many local businesses the idea of asking the visitors for help for the region felt awkward.
And the initiative of a contribution coming from the hotel room rates was dashed almost before implementing it.
Looking for different possibilities, finally the community arrived at a conclusion: a direct focus was needed.
Providing Focus to A Community
The absence of a specific project to help was probably the hardest part of getting the community to buy in, as the vision was broader and less concrete than other Monteverde initiatives.
There was no school to build or species to rescue. Instead, the objective of the Monteverde Community Fund was to sustainably support and protect the destination, its nature, its people, culture, and surroundings. Community people would plan and decide on the projects and activities based on their understanding of local needs.
It was a noble goal, because rather than a project, visitors were invited to help a community. But there had to be a lot of faith and trust that the locals understood what was required and that the cash would be spent correctly.
Ultimately, it was agreed to create three independent funds into which visitors and local companies might contribute: Environmental, Social Cultural, and Smart Economies.
In addition to environmental and social/cultural, which we’ve touched on, the Smart Economies Fund aided experimental initiatives that promoted best practices in sustainable production or energy consumption, as well as collaborative efforts and capacity building.
Together, these three initiatives began to gain traction, but it was still slow going at first. Fortunately, as part of a bigger grant, the InterAmerican Foundation (IAF) authorized some seed money to the Monteverde Community Fund to begin sponsoring initiatives immediately. This IAF award inspired Monteverde to go from the scope of only Travelers' Philanthropy as a source of income to setting up a Community Foundation, with Travelers' Philanthropy as a central element.
Using IAF project funding as a match, the Community Fund was able to collect additional donations from visitors and local companies and launch a modest grants program. Once some concrete initiatives were underway, the Fund could relate to their beneficial community benefits, which helped to explain the mission.
And in time, local companies, particularly those that benefited from tourism, needed to invest in their own community just as much as they needed to rely entirely on tourists. Slowly but surely, the Monteverde Community Fund thrived!
Some of Their Incredible Projects
In its short lifetime, the Fund has funded a total of 18 community activities, ranging from small sustainably-grown gardens in elementary schools to a women's soap-making program and solar panels at the Public Library.
The following is the complete project list:
- Research to protect one of Santa Elena's most important water sources.
- Santa Elena Public High School's biodigester
- The Creative Learning Center School’s rainwater collecting system
- Buildings for the Recycling Center and 14 Mini-Collection Sites.
- A community-wide strategic plan for wastewater management (in development)
- Increased sustainability (electric solar panels and climate improvements) for the Santa Elena Community Library
- Community Radio Monteverde
- Animal spay and neuter programs in Monteverde
- Movement, Zumba, and Yoga programs, along with a native & edible plant garden for Guacimal Elementary School
- Courses on Project Management for locals to improve the workforce
- Assistance in website creation for small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Water Source Protection through reforestation
- The Music Festival of Monteverde
- Workshops in musical theater for children.
- A women's cooperative for the production of natural soap products
- Strategic plan for building a more robust and diverse local economy
- Cabeceras Community Center enhancements.
- Training in sustainable agriculture, as well as management and marketing methods, for local farmers (02)
The Impact of Visitors
The Monteverde Chamber of Tourism's destination tagline is "Authentic and Sustainable."
Having a destination-wide impact tourism model that supports sustainable community initiatives boosts the destination's branding and image, all while supporting the values of the community and local businesses.
People simply like to support the places that they enjoy, and when their purchases benefit a worthy cause, there is an added motivation, something that’s frequently referred to as the warm glow effect.
The Community Fund collaborated with local companies to create a line of items that are available as souvenirs and that go from postcards to self-guided tour guides. Everyone wins — visitors can support their favorite destination, and the funds are directed to the areas of the community that need them most!
The Monteverde Community Fund and the Covid Crisis
Monteverde receives 250,000 visitors per year. In addition to this disproportionate amount of tourists (with respect to the local population), there’s a floating population that comes to the area to work in the many businesses in the tourism industry: hotels, travel agencies, tour operators, reservations, and the like.
On March 20, 2020, Costa Rica's airport officially closes its doors and immediately after, announced the temporary closures of all the businesses that had to do with customer service. Within a few days, most of the population of Monteverde was unemployed or saw their income seriously diminished.
The region joined the desperation of hundreds of thousands who depended entirely on the travel industry, but things were different here thanks to the Monteverde Community Fund.
Taking Action
By March 23rd, the Monteverde Community Fund was already moving — tapping into a network of past donors, and identifying the most pressing needs in the area.
The community spirit of Monteverde also came to life once more. The people of Monteverde formed the "Comisión de Enlace Monteverde" to bring the entire community together, with representatives from more than 12 public and private institutions, as well as representatives of private enterprise and volunteers. This commission in turn was organized into 5 working sub-commissions that converted the agreements into short-term actions. (02)
In order to know the magnitude of the crisis, the Statistics and Census Subcommittee of the Comision de Enlace Monteverde 2020 prepared online surveys answered first by more than a thousand self-employed population and later by all the different companies that were unable to continue paying their employees.
Once that data was processed, the next step was to take immediate action to support the most vulnerable families through the Social Aid Committee, which was -and is- in charge of collecting donations at the local level and then delivering the food and other necessities.
An Efficient Reaction to Support the Community!
This wasn’t the first time that the Monteverde Community Fund had come together to support the community. During Storm Nate in 2017, they had helped raise funds for the emergency, and the results were so effective that there were surplus funds leftover when the covid crisis hit..
After identifying the most vulnerable families, the Monteverde Community Fund kept on, with another round of support.
-The Circular Economy Subcommittee identified and inventoried local food producers (vegetables, basic grains, chicken, eggs, cheese, etc.). This has made it possible to connect producers with local consumers, using the community's social networks and chats to enable buying/selling with home delivery.
-The MCF supported research and planning for a number of new tasks. Preventing the spread of the COVID-19, adjusting family spending to the new reality, legal and financial guidance for families and businesses, and psychological support for the general population — they were all necessary parts of life after COVID. The subcommission on Health, Education, and Recreation arranged these events through Facebook Live or Zoom virtual meetings.
-A food bank for low-income households without food and sanitary items was also created for any families that hadn’t been identified in the first round of assistance. From here, the Social Assistance subcommission set up an area near the Monteverde Community Fund for individuals to drop off donations, sort and distribute food packs.
-Local officials also put together a local food production plan: this not only addressed food security but also improved nutrition and kept money within the community.
- And finally, Zona Alta Medios, the local news system, used a small portion of the funding to create and disseminate audiovisual guidance throughout the whole process of organizing and responding to this catastrophe. This content helped communities communicate, stay up to date, and educate themselves as they adapted to the crisis.
And now, thanks in large part to the Monteverde Community Fund, the town has largely recovered, and is in a position to thrive once more!
A Place for Everyone to Thrive
Communities are strong when we organize and become conscious of how powerful of an effect we all have on supporting the place we live in. And in that one small example, Monteverde has given a lesson to Costa Rica and the world of how to survive together while facing a crisis.
Don’t miss our great community! Ask the Ocotea Boutique hotel reservations team for the Footprints of Monteverde Tour and find more about the Monteverde Community Fund while you’re in town!
References:
Monteverde Fund. "Monteverde Community Fund | Fondo Comunitario M | Community Foundation." Monteverde Fund. n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2022. <https://www.monteverdefund.org>
(01)Council on Foundations. "Community Foundations." Council on Foundations. n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2022. https://www.cof.org/foundation-type/community-foundations-taxonomy
(02) Center for Responsible Travel. "Monteverde Community Fund | Center for Responsible Travel." Center for Responsible Travel. n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2022. http://web.archive.org/web/20210421133140/https://www.responsibletravel.org/impact-tourism-handbook/monteverde-community-fund/
Echoes of the Journey. "Monteverde Community Fund - Echoes of the Journey." Echoes of the Journey. 4 Aug. 2019. Web. 12 Jan. 2022. https://echoesofthejourney.com/monteverde-community-fund/
Global Summit on Community Philanthropy. "Monteverde Community Fund — Global Summit on Community Philanthropy." Global Summit on Community Philanthropy. n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2022. http://cpsummit.ngo/monteverde-community-fund
Presidencia de la República de Costa Rica. "Comunidad de Monteverde convierte la amenaza de COVID-19 en oportunidad para fortalecer su organización." Presidencia de la República de Costa Rica. 18 Apr. 2020. Web. 12 Jan. 2022. https://www.presidencia.go.cr/comunicados/2020/04/comunidad-de-monteverde-convierte-la-amenaza-de-covid-19-en-oportunidad-para-fortalecer-su-organizacion/
