I learned about ASCONA because I sometimes shared an office with the president, Ifigenia Canet. The group makes simply “being active” look dull; it’s a community force, holding classes in schools, organizing beach clean-ups, and promoting local tourism projects. I’d stupidly thought of service work as something done by people who leave a developed country to work in an undeveloped one. It was a perspective-changer to see something started by locals to serve their community.
You can’t keep a good man down, and Costa Rican environmental nonprofit ASCONA shows that the same is true for a good idea.
ASCONA, which in English stands for National and Environmental Community Service Association, originally was formed in 1972 and was the first NGO in the country. Over the next 20 years it grew to 12 branches and more than 5,000 members. Internal disputes brought down the organization in the 90s. But it was revived in June 2006 when Ifigenia Garita Canet, current president and director, re-founded the group to promote sustainable development — or “desarrollo sin destrucción” — on the biodiversity-rich Osa Peninsula.
Canet said bringing back a well-known name with existing connections was easier than forming a new group. The reincarnated ASCONA hopes to stand out by getting Costa Ricans interested in backing conservation efforts in their community. A Tico-run organization with locals participating helps create ownership.
Workers from ASCONA and community volunteers sort recyclables from trash during a beach cleanup near Puerto Jimenez in early June.
“It’s us protecting what we have,” Canet said.
The new ASCONA has three main goals.
* Environmental Education: Holding programs in primary schools about the importance of preserving the environment.
*Advice to Landowners: Offering other options to Ticos who are thinking of selling their land to developers. For example, ASCONA would help them develop their property as an ecotourism project. Or it might help to establish a nature reserve where scientists could do research.
* Legal Defense Fund. Providing legal assistance when residents face land seizures or when they do decide to sell their land. Legal contracts are difficult to navigate as is, and many rural landowners haven’t had much education. This goal is one of the most ambitious, and it requires a lot of money and resources.
Balancing environment interests with economic interests can be a difficult issue. There’s currently a marina targeted near Puerto Jimenez in a biologically sensitive area of the Golfo Dulce. Locals, rightly so, see projects like this as work. But Canet pointed out that these construction jobs are often short-term, and too much development could, in the long term, undermine the draw of Osa.
“We save natural resources, people will come; if we destroy them, people won’t come,” she said.
The new ASCONA is small, with only three employees who receive help from family members, friends, and members. Membership stands at 36; it costs $10 a year, and members often pledge to chip in any way they can.
ASCONA’s hope is to grow, but not to the scale it was at before. “There are Costa Rican associations in San José, Heredia, in Limon, in other provinces,” Canet said, “so I think it’s better to get really strong here, and do it here.”
For more information about ASCONA, visit www.asconacr.org or e-mail lanuevaascona@gmail.com.
Kent most recently left his post as an English teacher in Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica and is currently traveling. To see what he’s up to, check out his blog or follow him on Twitter.
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You can’t keep a good women down either!!!
We just submitted our first grant application, we are so happy and excited. The volunteers did a great job. We hope we can help many local people in their effort of helping preserve the rich natural resources of the area throught sustainable practices in tourism projects.
Loved your article, keep up the outstanding writing, and thanks so much for you help.
Regards, Ifigenia Garita Canet
Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica.