Our Overall Strategy and Approach

ASANA's main strategy has not been the acquisition of land to create a huge national park but instead it works together with communities, businesses and local property owners and relevant government ministries to find ways to conserve and generate returns from existing tropical habitats without causing a negative impact on the environment. In many cases, this involves restoring degraded lands to their former condition as this is often more advantageous to the landowner. In fact, analysis of aerial photographs and satellite imagery from the 1960s to the present shows a significant increase in forest cover and coastal vegetation. It is estimated that the natural habitat in the Path of the Tapir has increased by more than 50% since the late 1960s. We believe that the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor is one of the few cases that exist in the world that has documented evidence that the status of conservation of biodiversity has improved over time instead of worsening. In a world where victories in the field of conservation are few, the Path of the Tapir is an outstanding example of success.

As ASANA's mission is focused on connectivity in the region, we wish to identify and consolidate existing prime pieces of healthy habitat and work to ensure their conservation.  We wish to become an organization that adheres to the principles of adaptive management and thus is not afraid to take risks, innovate, and fail.  We wish to take advantage of market forces at work in the Corridor and its associated natural areas and use them to our advantage. Where necessary, we are willing to consider restoration and reintroductions to reach our vision. We wish to become a nimble organization that can identify and respond rapidly to emerging threats.  We wish to be thought of as a professional organization that is clear about what it is trying to accomplish, focuses on what it must do, is collaborative and friendly in its approach, but is as tough as nails when it needs to be.

Some of ASANA’s Recent Achievements

To provide some examples of the kinds of impacts ASANA has had in the region, we include the following list of results:

• Environmental education. ASANA has participated as an important partner in providing environmental education programs for schools in the communities of the CBPD. This has been possible through the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
• Preparation of a proposal to declare the Savegre River Watershed a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. ASANA has managed a process of community consultation and planning that led to the development of the proposal. The proposal is in its final stages of approval by local and national authorities and will be submitted to UNESCO for the next proposal cycle.
• Rerouting of electrical transmission lines. ASANA has managed to successfully negotiate with the National Electricity Institute (ICE) to change plans for routing high- tension electrical transmission lines through the Path of the Tapir. ICE had originally planned to route three main lines through the Corridor and now plan to route only one using a variety of technique to mitigate its impacts.
• Conservation of endangered marine turtles. ASANA's marine turtle nursery continues to be a success with the conservation of more than 80 nests in 2011 alone.
• Community empowerment to manage freshwater resources. With a generous grant from the Stroud Resreach Center, ASANA has been able to engage ten communities in evaluating their river and stream resources to better manage freshwater drinking supplies. Better management of water for drinking also leads to Improved conservation of riparian (river-related) habitats.
• Conservation of private lands. ASANA board members have been instrumental in establishing and registering a Costa Rican private foundation that will serve as a local land trust in the Path of the Tapir and its associated natural areas. This Trust - based on the Land Trust movement of the United States - will receive lands from private landowners and search for mechanisms to compensate them.
• Certification of key properties. ASANA has developed a series of “Principles for Sustainable Development of the Path of the Tapir and its associated natural areas." We are currently using these principles to certify a number of important privately-owned properties that will form the backbone of connectivity running along the Pacific Coast.