Chapter 7: Sustainability—A Local Example: Monteverde, Costa Rica

The Monteverde region has evolved over the past 100 years (1912-2012) from a community of Costa Rican agricultural pioneers to a society that is heterogeneous in its origins, languages and religions, with an economy now dependent on tourism.

Before the arrival of the Quakers, the families who populated this area were engaged in subsistence agriculture, hunting and trade in a few agricultural products—including bootleg cane liquor!

Mutual cooperation between neighbors was essential for their survival. Exchanges of goods and labor were common. Public infrastructure, such as roads and schools, was constructed using manual labor from the community. And the lack of basic health services was an incentive to develop knowledge about different forms of natural medicine.