I took a walk lately with noted Costa Rican conservationist Alvaro Ugalde and several other conservation-minded locals in the
Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden, just outside of San Ramon. We are lucky enough to have as a neighbor Mr. Ugalde, an important advocate in the formation of Costa Rica’s national parks, which make up 30% of Costa Rica’s total area. He is the CEO and chairman of the Garden’s sister organization
Nectandra Institute who are advocating the protection of Costa Rica’s watersheds.
This is a description of the Cloud Forest Garden on their Web site: “The preserve occupies 130 hectares of premontane primary and secondary cloud forest, only a small portion of which is opened to the public by reservation. The Garden, as the landscaped area is known, uses mostly plants native to the preserve. Highlighted are the dominant wild epiphytes — orchids, ferns, bryophytes, and heliconias.”
What a peaceful, beautiful place it is. There is a high concentration of plant, insect and animal species here, the animals being quite elusive, especially during the day. In their on-site teaching center, hidden within the forest, there is quite an extensive collection of plaster-casted animal tracks, including Jaguar, Puma and even one of a Baird’s Tapir.
Now, I am not a botanist, but I can appreciate the profound beauty that a walk in the cloud forest has to offer. A cloud forest is a forest at a higher elevation and has a high incidence of cloud coverage, keeping it perpetually moist. They exhibit an abundance of mosses, ferns, epiphytes and fern trees. Again, I am not a botainist or a biologist, but I'm sure they exhibit an abundance of a lot of other things too.
Thank you Alvaro and Nectandra for a lovely walk in the woods and for all the good work you are doing.
If you would like more information, or are interested in visiting the Nectandra Cloud Forest Garden, please send me an email.
—Christopher
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