The Beginning

Finca La Bella means “The Beautiful Farm” in English, and it is truly beautiful. The 49-hectare (122-acre) cooperative farm is located in San Luis de Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera de Tilarán. This is a steep, mountainous area, where dairy farming is the principal agricultural activity and coffee is a secondary cash crop. In the 1940s cattle ranchers purchased and deforested large areas of Costa Rica’s northwest, including most of the San Luis Valley. Small farmers and dairy owners were gradually forced to practice agriculture on steep, previously forested areas, as land ownership was put into fewer hands . In the San Luis Valley, this process continued unabated for over forty years, with the majority of arable land eventually falling under the control of one man, Ramón Brenes.

Great attention has been focused on conserving Costa Rica’s amazing forests and diverse wildlife, and, unfortunately, very little to agrarian land reform. This is why residents of the San Luis Valley, with support from the Monteverde Quaker community, began looking for viable land reform options in their region during the 1980s. Thus, in 1991, they considered buying a farm owned by Brenes, approximately six kilometers south of Monteverde for the Finca La Bella project. Brenes had begun selling some of his land, including a 70-hectare site to developers from the United States, who created what is now the University of Georgia Eco-Lodge (Mann 56). The visionaries asked the local co-op, CoopeSanta Elena R. L. (Co-op), to help finance the project in 1992. The Co-op’s membership has included dairy farmers, coffee growers, artisans and consumers. The Finca La Bella project involved several local institutions in addition to the Co-op, which is currently inactive. These include, the Monteverde Friends Meeting, the Monteverde Institute, a Friends organization, Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW, formerly Friends Committee on Unity with Nature), and the Asociación de Desarrollo Integral San Luis (San Luis Integrated Development Association), which is currently inactive. Quaker Earthcare Witness created the Ann Kriebel Fund to raise monies for the project and was able to reimburse the Co-op for their costs by 1999.

An Inspiring Story

Ann Kriebel was a young Quaker woman from Wooster, Ohio, who in the early 1980s traveled to Costa Rica to live and work in the Monteverde Quaker community. Ann would daily walk down from Monteverde to the San Luis Valley “to carry out educational programs in literacy, health care, nutrition, and the environment.” While serving there she died unexpectedly from an infection, but her spirit lives on at Finca La Bella. In the December 15, 1984 issue of Friends Journal, Ann published an article entitled “What is Simplicity?” She asked whether simplicity is “really a matter of our material possessions or, rather, a state of mind, heart, and spirit?” Ann went on to state that “true simplicity should connote not poverty but, rather, a richness of spirit, a joy in living, the nurturing of creativity, sensitivity to the natural world, and love for all its creatures.

As an expression of this love, this true simplicity, we must then, too, commit ourselves to building a more equitable world—a world in which this simplicity may thrive and be enjoyed by everyone.” Kriebel also dreamed of assisting the landless farmers of San Luis with a cooperative farm as a way to provide them with more equitable access to land and increased self-employment. Out of respect for the vision Ann shared with San Luis residents, the La Bella project’s vision is to demonstrate the compatibility of environmental conservation, human development, and sustainable agriculture.

Project Organization

The Co-op established a special planning committee to oversee the project, called the Commission, which involves residents of both San Luis and Monteverde. The Commission originally consisted of two representatives from the Co-op, which included an employee and member of the board, one representative from the Monteverde Friends Meeting, one representative from San Luis, one representative from the San Luis Integrated Development Association and one of the parceleros, the small parcel farmers of Finca La Bella. The Commission’s responsibilities are to:

• Administer, coordinate, control, and give continuity to all aspects of the project.
• Evaluate each of the parcels, make recommendations as necessary, and evaluate positive experiences within the farm.
• Respond to all forms of suggestions and complaints.
• Direct resources and effort for the project; promote education, capacitation, and exchange of experiences among the parceleros, as well as coordinate technical assistance for the farm.
• Name new beneficiaries for the parcels that have been renounced or whose tenants have been expelled.
• Carry out other responsibilities that may be determined in the future through mutual agreement of involved parties.

Currently, the Commission’s membership includes two parceleros, one Monteverde Institute staff member, and one Monterverde Quaker who also represents QEW.

The Finca La Bella Project also formed in 1999 a parceleros’ association, Asociación Agrícola Finca La Bella-Ann Kriebel. The Association’s board includes a president, vice-president, vocal (has right to speak and vote, third in command), secretary, treasurer and fiscal (who has the right to speak and oversees the good functioning of the board). The Board is elected by the Parceleros’ Assembly, which also has the right to ratify or overturn the Board’s decisions. Another position on La Bella is that of Volunteer Coordinator, whose responsibilities include maintaining equitable distribution of volunteers and students to families, connecting them with their tico (what Costa Ricans call themselves) family, ensuring that they have transportation from Santa Elena to Finca La Bella, and checking in on the volunteers and students during their stay. Finca La Bella not only hosts volunteers and students, but has also sent parceleros on agricultural exchanges. Eight parceleros participated in this program between 1998 and 2000. They were chosen by the La Bella community as representatives to their host communities. During their stay abroad they visited and worked on organic farms in the U.S. and Canada, and shared the story of La Bella with their host communities.

The Land

Having been reimbursed for the Finca La Bella land by QEW, the Co-op held the land title only symbolically. In 2001 the Asamblea de Parceleros’ (Parceleros’ Assembly), of whom all the parceleros are members, decided to transfer the title to Monteverde Institute (MVI), a Costa Rican non-profit organization committed to providing “Education for a Sustainable Future” in the Monteverde area. This decision was made because of the Co-op’s unstable economic situation at the time and the resultant inability of Co-op personnel to dedicate adequate attention to Finca La Bella issues. MVI filled the Co-op’s position on the Commission, and established a land trust for Finca La Bella with the help of CEDARENA (The Environmental and Natural Resources Law Center), a Costa Rican non-profit, non-political association that was founded in 1989 “to harmonize the relationships between human beings and nature to improve the quality of life.” The land trust is a three-year renewable agreement “which will ensure the use of the farm for its stated purpose of environmentally, and socially, sustainable agriculture.”

MVI, QEW, and CEDARENA are now working with the La Bella Association to establish a community land trust which would be overseen by the parceleros and a conservation easement that will legally dictate for which purpose the land may be used, all primary and secondary forest will remain as such, agricultural areas where the parceleros have the right to farm, areas that must be used for communal activities, and areas for the construction of homes and outbuildings. The process of implementing the easement and trust appropriately is a challenge currently facing the Finca La Bella project. A community land trust has never before been implemented in Costa Rica. Combining a community land trust, with the purpose of social justice and equity, with a conservation easement, which in Costa Rica has been only used “to ensue the natural character of private lands,” creates certain complications. Both of these initiatives involve a technical and social process, as well as legal expenses and they are another challenge the project must surmount.

The Parceleros

Currently, Finca La Bella supports 24 formerly landless families, all of whom are originally from San Luis and who hand-cultivate individual parcels of roughly the same amount of arable land. The families were selected by a process that evaluated, among other things, their need, and the will and ability both to work the land and build community. Each parcelero signs a renewable 25-year lease contract that outlines the rights, responsibilities and limitations for his/her personal parcel and for the Finca La Bella project as a whole. If they ever decide to leave Finca La Bella, they will be reimbursed for all physical improvements made on their parcels, such as buildings or permanent crops.

Click here to read profiles of current parcelero families.

At the beginning, the Finca La Bella land had been mainly used for cattle pasture and was planted with invasive African grass which is very hardy and difficult to thwart. There were also a few fields of neglected coffee and a third of the land (14 ha [hectares]) contained primary and secondary forest. The parceleros have left untouched the primary growth forest, and measurements in 2003 revealed that there was a 0.9 hectare increase, from the 14-hectare of forest listed on the land deed in 1992. The tree nursery on La Bella is currently inactive, but has provided over ten thousand windbreak trees, which the parceleros planted to protect their coffee, fruit trees, vegetables, and other produce from the harsh winds that blow through the San Luis Valley during certain months. Some parceleros are currently looking at restarting the nursery to grow fruit trees. A greenhouse is also located on La Bella, and some women are now considering a medicinal plants project.

A potable water system was established soon after the start of the Finca La Bella project, and it supplies most homes. A couple of years ago, an irrigation system was installed with fifteen La Bella families, but soon after, Hurricane Mitch swept through and ruined the catchment tank. The system is still in very poor shape and does not fulfill the families’ expectations. The San Luis community has also built on La Bella a kindergarten, a donor-supported community "Kinder" for 4- to 6-year-olds. The Kinder operated from 1994 to 2004 and prepared approximately 20 children annually for 1st grade. While this Kinder has been incorporated in to the state school system, La Bella also hosts a two-room medical clinic staffed by government employees and community volunteers a few days a month, both of these serve the San Luis area. Another project that involves the broader San Luis community is Artesanas Finca La Bella. This is a fairly new women’s craft and handiwork group, which at this time has 14 members, half of them La Bella women. The only requirement of membership is that each woman brings a mug from which to sip coffee while crafting and one flower from their home garden to plant in front of the Casa de la Finca (Farmhouse), the original farmhouse building on La Bella where they meet. In March 2001, parceleros and students from the Fox Maple School of Traditional Building in Maine, U.S.A., built a post-and-beam community building using local renewable materials near the Farmhouse, christening it the Marcelino Cruz Community Center, “Casa Maple” (Timberframe House).

The Purpose

At the start of the Asociación Agrícola Finca La Bella-Ann Kriebel project, some “intentions and ethical principles” were laid out, and it continues to be a challenge to adhere consistently to all of them. They include:

“The land is not to be sold, commercialized, or speculated with; respect for all, regardless of beliefs, personal situation or capacity; this land is for those who work and care for it; participants will be chosen on the basis of interest, need and ability; responsibility for the impacts and repercussions of the project (both ecological and social processes); transparency in all proceedings (openness and honesty); favor consensus and unity in the community; do not encourage paternalism or sectarian politics; clear, dynamic and flexible planning; and priority given to direct service to Sanluiseños—San Luis residents.”

The economic and social sustainability of La Bella also continues to be a challenge. To combat it, Monteverde Institute, with its vision of a sustainable future, has collaborated with Finca La Bella for a unique program. The parceleros work as teaching hosts, sharing their agrarian knowledge with groups of students and volunteers through tours of Finca La Bella. During some of these tours, the Artesanas Finca La Bella serve a noon meal and have their handiwork available for sale. These activities, and the hosting of visiting volunteers and students, provide the families with additional income to meet their education, healthcare and other social service needs. Parceleros also have been provided educational opportunities through the participation in classes on organic and biodynamic agriculture, accounting and marketing, organizational dynamics, tourism, and guiding. Some other pressing challenges are that a credit union or revolving loan fund is needed for the parceleros to facilitate start-up and infrastructure development and that the Finca La Bella leadership needs to be strengthened to bring the project to full maturity.

Goals of the Finca La Bella project include, but are not limited to: advance agriculture techniques through the limitation of agrochemical use and diversification of crops; improvement of pasture management and general reduction of pasture land and cattle presence; establishment of windbreaks, natural barriers, and other soil conservation methods; maintenance and augmentation of current forest tracts to create and enhance biological corridors and connectivity; provide the means for participants to meet basic needs and have a source of income; and the establishment of projects which benefit the community in general, including a kindergarten and health clinic. Some of these goals have been met and others are still being worked toward, and the Finca La Bella project has done more besides giving farmers land—It has provided a healthy environment (both natural and social) for their children, and above all, has created community, with all the challenges and joys that human community brings. That’s what Ann Kriebel dreamed of—true simplicity in a “place just right in a valley of love and delight.”

Bibliography

“San Luis Community Project, Finca La Bella (La Bella Farm).” Coordinated by Friends Committee on Unity with Nature and the Santa Elena Cooperative. Brochure.

Wixom, Bob. “Some Glimpses of Sustainability in Costa Rica.” BeFriending Creation. Vol. 8, No. 6. Nov.-Dec. 1995.

McCandless, Susannah and Oldemar Salazar. “The Summit Foundation Grant Application.” The Finca La Bella Shade Grown Coffee Project.

“FCUN Begins Project.” BeFriending Creation. Sept. 1992.

“Land Purchased for the People of the Valley.” From a letter by Bill Howenstine, clerk of Ann Kriebel/San Luis Project.

Kriebel, Ann. “What is Simplicity?” Friends Journal. 15 Dec. 1984.

“Proposal to FWCC’s Right Sharing World Resources Committee.”

Mann, Michael W. “Sustainability Analysis of Finca La Bella, San Luis.”

“CoopeSanta Elena R.L. San Luis Community Project Finca La Bella.” Sponsored by FCUN-Ann Kriebel Fund.

Kriebel, Ann et al. Right Sharing News. Vol. XI, No. 2. March/April 1984.

“La Bella Farm.” Quaker Earthcare Witness—formerly FCUN.

Chacón, Carlos Manuel Marin, Andrea Meza Murillo, and Edwin Alpízar Vaglio. Caminado en la conservación privada: definiendo prioridades, opciones legales y tenencia de la tierra. San José, Costa Rica: CEDARENA, 2004.

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