• Both non-profit organizations signed a cooperative agreement for the next 5 years.
  

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• PUP and the Monteverde technical team apply the condition-based zoning pilot methodology in the biological reserve in September 2019, the beginnings of the collaboration.

  SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (6 August 2023) — In order to innovate in protected area natural and cultural resources management, the Tropical Science Center (TSC) and the PUP Global Heritage Consortium signed an inter-institutional cooperative agreement for the next five years.

  This agreement, signed in early July, will unite these two non-governmental and non-profit organizations in projects that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources in Costa Rica, America, and the world.

  According to Carlos Hernandez, director of TSC’s system of protected areas that includes the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, this agreement originated from joint work carried out by both organizations in previous years, mainly in the application of a new me

  “The TSC really emphasizes

  

  
  

• innovation in protected areas management, therefore we were very interested in working with the PUP 

• thodology for zoning based on biodiversity-related conditions, in Monteverde.

• Consortium to implement a methodology that could overcome the problems associated with conventional zoning. This initiative was very consistent with both organizations’ mission and, from then on, we considered the possibility of establishing a cooperative framework,” Hernandez said.

• The agreement’s main objectives are:
  

1. Innovate in methodologies, instruments, and theoretical-technical frameworks that strengthen management of resources present in protected areas and adjacent communities.
2. Generate academic and professional benefits for public sector officials, entrepreneurs, naturalist guides, community leaders, professionals and students, among others, through training in conservation and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources.
3. Develop joint projects in this field.
4. Carry out research, extension, production, and technology transfer activities that respond to natural resource issues.
5. Strengthen information exchange to improve decision-making.

“At the PUP Global Heritage Consortium, we support communities in the protection and management of natural and cultural heritage through our action learning network and evolving integral approaches and tools. We work collaboratively to support local management in protected areas, and the TSC became our natural ally in Costa Rica by successfully managing the Monteverde Biological Reserve,” said Jon Kohl, executive director of the PUP Consortium.

As part of the agreement, the TSC and PUP will offer an online course on condition-based zoning of natural and cultural resources for protected areas in Latin America. Its goal is to increase the collective capacity to manage these areas effectively and adaptively. This course is based on the methodological guide prepared by both organizations (only in Spanish), whose theory and academic background are based on an article published in PARKS, IUCN’s scientific journal.

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The Tropical Science Center is a non-governmental, non-profit organization, established in 1962 with its headquarters in San José, Costa Rica. The oldest conservation organization in Costa Rica, it is dedicated to generating and applying knowledge regarding the enduring relationship between humans and tropical biological and physical resources.

The PUP Global Heritage Consortium is an international non-profit NGO that supports communities in the protection and management of natural and cultural heritage through its action learning network and evolving integral approaches and tools.