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Cloudbridge Nature Reserve

Cloudbridge is a private nature reserve that stretches from 1550m to 2600m (5085-8530 ft) in the Talamanca mountains of Costa Rica. Since 2002, 255 hectares (630 acres) of cattle pasture or cultivated land with a further 28 hectares (70 acres) of primary forest has been purchased by the reserve. Since it’s beginning, Cloudbridge has been dedicated to the conservation and reforestation of the cloudforest. As we have grown, education and research have played a large part in what we do; teaching the importance of and expanding our knowledge of this unique habitat for wildlife, sustainable tourism and climate change.

Conservation

We treat it as our urgent responsibility to engage in and promote sound environmental and conservation practices, to both reduce our impact on the environment, and improve the environment around us. Through leading by example and actively teaching, we hope to serve as a role model for our global visitors and volunteers. Acting locally, we contribute to Costa Rica’s carbon neutrality goal by:

Conserving our old growth forest
Planting over 50,000 native trees on our land (as of January 2017)
Assisting local communities with their tree planting efforts
Generating our own solar and hydroelectric power
Giving presentations in Costa Rica, Canada, United States, and the UK
Providing virtual field trips through video conferencing to schools around the world
Providing useful and helpful information on our website and links to pages where interested people can learn more
Providing interpersonal education through our Welcome Center and art gallery at Cloudbridge, so visitors, volunteers and researchers can all become better informed about conservation and climate change

Reforestation

Cloudbridge began its reforestation efforts in 2002 with both local and international consultants, eventually coming up with a plan to reforest degraded agricultural land. Research helped to identify trees and other flora that are native to the oak-dominated lower montane cloud forest of the Talamanca Range. Initially entire hillsides were planted and efforts to maintain the seedlings could not compete with the invasive grasses. Over the years, with the invaluable help of our local workers, volunteers and researchers, our planting techniques have evolved to be much more successful.At the beginning of the project, a few tree species were selected for a potential sustainable forestry demonstration. These included the non-native (but common in the area) Cupressus lusitanica (cypress, cipres) and the native Alnus acuminata (alder, jaúl). Ultimately, sustainable forestry for commercial use failed to be a viable option due to a number of factors including access, terrain, low value of the trees, and disruption of the forest’s natural regeneration. The non-native cypress is slowly being weeded out and used on the reserve for building.

Come visit for the day, the entrance fee is 5000 colones (or $8 USD) for foreigners / 2,500 colones for locals; or stay for a couple of nights in one of our cabins. If you can’t visit us, please consider making a donation. Donations of any size are greatly appreciated and help support our mission statement. Thank you for visiting our site and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Mission / Intention

Conserve our natural resources for present and future generations by using green energy, minimizing our carbon footprint, protecting our land and its inhabitants as invaluable, promoting plant based diets, and limiting our waste.

Reforest areas of degraded agricultural land and nurture those areas back to a climax forest composition.