Jungle Luxury = Sustainability

 

We are stewards of a very fragile habitat.

 
 

  • We are members of the government’s Fonafifo Program:  We have promised to preserve over 102 hectares of our main, 114 hectare property, and in exchange, the government pays us a yearly stipend. It is one way Costa Rica is battling climate change.

  •  We have planted thousands of native hardwood trees and fruit trees for the animals: Our property was logged years ago and where trees once were, an invasive bracken fern (Pteridium Arachnoideum) took hold. We cleared the fern with machetes, left it to compost in place, and then we planted trees. Thousands of them.

  • Cielo Lodge is completely off-grid, powered by solar panels and a small micro-hydro system.

  • All of our buildings are elevated: This ensures that airflow is maximized and our actual footprint on the ground is minimized.

  • Gravity is used to move our drinking water to our water storage tanks.

  • We used legally-harvested, reclaimed hardwood in our project: In Costa Rica, you are not allowed to touch any dead trees on your property, unless you have a permit. So we made the effort to get permits for 13 fallen native hard-wood trees, and are using the reclaimed wood in the construction of our project.

  • Wastewater wetlands (bio-jardinieres) are used as a secondary sewage treatment system: Every suite has a wastewater wetland (bio-jardiniere) which uses plants to filter the effluent coming from the septic system. The plants serve as a biofilter and feast on the effluent, cleaning the water that passes to the leach field. So everything that passes back into the environment will have gone through a secondary treatment.

  • We will have an organic garden: Anything that we don't grow ourselves will be sourced, as much as possible, from local, organic farmers.

 
 

Research in Golfito and the Golfo Dulce

There are several research projects in the area that are putting Golfito on the “environmental map”:

A PhD student from England is running an audio study of the entire jungle, from the Osa down to Panama. We’re excited to be a part of her study because the audio will provide an amazing snapshot of all of the species living on the green mountain. And we’ll be able to analyze changes as we re-forest and restore our jungle.

 

The University of Costa Rica is re-seeding the coral reef in the Golfo Dulce, and snorkeling spots right near Golfito now boast sharks, moray eels, rays, sea turtles, and many species of reef fish. The best time to go snorkeling is from January through April.

 

Cielo Lodge is also part of the Osa Conservation project. They are counting jaguars in the entire region. Please visit their website for more information.