* Limited regarding the location, stage of the forests, availability and period of time

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01 What were the inspirations to create OASISFORESTS?

When David Reuland arrived into Costa Rica in 2002 and observed the level of deforestation specifically for agriculture and cattle farming, he thought there should and could be a different way to gain an income more aligned with with nature than against it, the obvious being ecotourism and payments for forest services (carbon credits). He was also inspired by the creation of the Santa Rosa National Park in 1966, and expanded greatly in size and scope by the efforts of Daniel Janzen.  We wanted OASISFORESTS to emulate the ideas of Janzen that Oasis Restoration Reserve, and later many more private properties, could be a center of biological research, forest restoration and community outreach.  

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02 How do animals pass freely along rivers and quebradas?  Why is that so important?

Law 33 in Costa Rica requires that either 10, 15 and 50 meters of undisturbed land is required on either side or around and 50 meters around any natural spring or in high slopes. There are also laws regarding dumping of waste from dairies into the rivers and streams. Thus, any waterway and corridor on both sides or around it is by law protected like this and can be used safely as a corridor for flora and fauna. 

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Consider that a single adult male Jaguar requires 50-140 square kilometers, or that just one typical group of 15-20 Howler Monkeys require over 30 hectares, and when a new male wishes to form a new group that another 30 hectares is required, or that the Spider Monkey has a territorial need of about 300 hectares. These sizes are enormous as compared to almost all privately held conservation property, and so it is of benefit to all if we join together and connect to give these endangered animals a future. 

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03 How many national parks exist in Costa Rica?

Believe it or not, 30 governmentally - designated protected wildlife areas exist in Costa Rica. The concept is defined in the legislation as "geographic space, officially declared and designated with a management category by virtue of its natural, cultural and/or socioeconomic importance, to fulfill certain conservation and management objectives." (Biodiversity law). The categories of these protected areas are:

• National parks

• Forestry Reserves

• Protected Zones 

• Biological Reserves 

• Wildlife National Refugees 

• State-owned National Wildlife Refuges

• National Wildlife Refuges of private ownership 

• National Wildlife Refuges of mixed ownership 

• Wetlands 

• Natural Monuments 

• Marine Reserves 

• Marine Management Areas 

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The total of these protected areas represent 26% of Costa Rica’s total area.

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04 What percentage of Costa Rica is forested?  How does this compare with other countries?

59.5% of Costa Rica is designated as forest, but although this seems high, Costa Rica ranks number 27 in a list of the world’s countries for forest cover (Source).

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05 What are some next steps for OASIS FORESTS?:

In the short term we want to improve the connection from Oasis Reforestation Reserve, by OASISFORESTS to Río Arenal because although it is rural pastureland and the large animals are already passing freely to/from FOR, we do not consider the path large enough or safe enough. We are also beginning to invite owners of conservation properties to join the OASIS FORESTS network, to expand it beyond.

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In short time our main goal is to connect the first OASIS FORESTS (Oasis Reforestation Reserve) with Río Arenal and then connect private landowners properties in the Río San Carlos and Río Arenal watershed that comes from Maquenque Wildlife Refuge to Arenal Volcano National Park. 

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06 I am considering a forest restoration.  Why did it take so long to restore Oasis Reforestation Reserve?

Oasis Reforestation Reserve, by OASISFORESTS,  was purchased in 2004, but at that time the developer had only an idea of what he wanted to accomplish and no practical experience. In addition, he was still working in his career and only visited Costa Rica one month per year until 2016 to work on the process.  With this experience and the ability to work on a restoration full-time, he believed that a superior forest restoration could be accomplished in about 4 years, meaning a good beginning to an ecosystem and then every following year big improvements due to increasing size and complexity of the flora.

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07 What is the difference between a reforestation and a restoration?

A reforestation is generally thought of planting a lot of trees, but a forest restoration is a much more intensive and integral process to restore the deforested property to what it was like before in quantity and diversity of flora on all levels: trees, palms, vines, plants, etc. This involves, for example in lowland tropical rainforest, perhaps over 300 species of trees and palms.  It’s a lot of effort to recreate this level of biodiversity.

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08 Can a forest really be restored?

Virgin forest can never be replaced. Any restoration no matter the quality will always be classified as secondary forest, but the restoration process at Oasis Reforestation Reserve has demonstrated that a restoration can recreate an extremely significant ecosystem in a relatively short time. It seems very worth it to all the flora and fauna that are living peaceful lives and able to reproduce because of it.

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09 Could OASIS FORESTS expand beyond Costa Rica?:

Yes, this idea could easily cross national borders or be applied separately in other countries.  As global awareness of the impact of deforestation grows, and the focus on reforestation grows, the idea of OASISFORESTS could inspire other people and countries to adapt these methods to join scattered private conservation land with or without the existence of national parks. 

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10 What is required to join the OASISFORESTS network?

Only willingness to either preserve or restore your own property for the benefit of wildlife and yourself/your family.  OASISFORESTS will include your property on our map which keeps track of the location and total hectares included in the project and how it is connected to the private and national network. Your land/project can be positioned and advertisement on all our social media platforms if you prefer.  You can also choose to remain anonymous.

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11 What about conservation properties that are not part of the OASISFORESTS network?

No doubt there are and will be many conservation properties that for various reasons will not be counted on the OASISFORESTS website. But all of these properties will benefit from the national network, and that is part of the beauty of the national network idea to create and inspire more restorations and more corridors to bring more flora/fauna to more places in Costa Rica.

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12 Do you have more questions?

Contact us