Blue Planet Prize Story

While Prof. Janzen was conducting research on plants and animals in Costa Rica, he saw before his eyes how the forests were being damaged. So he decided to establish the ACG with his wife and others. After the hard work of negotiating with the Government and collecting funds, in cooperation with NGOs, the world's first national park funded completely by donations was established.

At first, they focused on reintegrating dry tropical forests that had become fragmented due to human activities such as livestock farming; they purchased grasslands which were once forests, and planted trees. Surprisingly, in ten years, most of the grasslands in the conservation area were successfully turned into young forests with small trees.

In the ACG project, they bought pasture lands and regenerated the forests as well as taking measures to prevent open burning, deforestation, and hunting in the protected areas. At the same time, they created jobs for local residents, such as firefighting, to protect the broad and complex ecosystems. They also organized fieldtrip learning programs for neighboring schools. Prof. Janzen believes that the understanding and support from local residents is essential for successful conservation.

Local residents need to understand that protecting nature is beneficial for the region; it could lead to the creation of new jobs and recreational activities.

Prof. Janzen and local staff

Along with cooperation from local residents, projects are conducted in cooperation with companies as a way of generating funds to maintain and expand conservation areas.

For example, a fruit juice manufacturer had trouble dealing with a great amount of pulp in the process of producing juice. The company could build a disposal facility, but it would be expensive and use a large amount of fuel; it could damage the reputation they had built up as an environmentally friendly company.

Hearing about this, Prof. Janzen thought that the ACG could accept the pulp because some animals in the conservation areas eat and break it down. He also had an idea that if the pulp was spread over areas filled with invasive plants that cause forest fires, it would reduce the growth of these plants and make the soil better for other plants. The company agreed with his proposal; and in exchange for helping the company dispose of its excess pulp, the ACG received 1,378-hectare of forest area for conservation.

As this shows, Prof. Janzen changed the conventional idea of conservation, which attempts to preserve land by preventing people from coming into contact with nature, by developing eco-friendly methods that harnessed the power of nature itself.

As a result of Prof. Janzen and other people's efforts, the ACG was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999, for their importance in the conservation of tropical biodiversity.

3. Enthusiasm of Scientists