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Leo and Stefan Proster. Source: VisionsWald.de
In the mountainous northern region of Costa Rica, a German-Austrian father and son team are leading a reforestation project that will not only benefit the ecosystem and biodiversity of the land but also yield handsome profits. This project, however, is far from being a “get rich overnight” scheme. It may take a couple of decades to reap financial profits, but the ecological and social benefits are already being collected.
Filmmaker Ruth Krause recently documented the work of Leo and Stefan Pröstler at Finca Tierras Buenas (Good Earth), located north of the pristine Sarapiqui region in the province of Heredia, close to the border with Nicaragua. The documentary is part of the Deutsche Welle Global Ideas program, and you can watch it at the DW website now.
Here is the description of the project as it appears on Alumniportal Deutschland, an online social network dedicated to promoting networking and sharing of information among German alumni, companies, universities and organizations:
The finca with 150 hectares of land in the Province of Heredia on the border to Nicaragua is called Tierras Buenas, which translates as Good Earth. Until about 15 years ago, it was a small village living on livestock breeding and coconut cultivation. Then the land was left idle and gradually returned to the wild. In 2009, Leo and Stefan Pröstler discovered the abandoned finca and were thrilled by it – the ideal place for a pilot project. Leo Pröstler’s company BaumInvest had long been engaged in the reforestation of the rain forest. In the 1980s, the entrepreneur and conservationist from Kirchzarten, near Freiburg, established the first mail-order business for ecological products.
Here are the basics of the project as explained by DW:
- Project goal: forest management with financial, social and ecological advantages for locals and investors
- Project type: reforestation
- Project size: around 2,500 hectares (of which around 1,000 hectares is reforested), more than 100 workers
- Number of plant species: around 30 different species, especially endemic ones
- For investors, the project is lucrative. But they’ll only see returns once the trees are chopped, sold and planted anew.
You can learn more at VisionsWald (in German). Similar expat-lead projects that encourage social and ecological responsibility have been previously featured in the Costa Rica Star. They include:
