Climate change is experienced with great impact and pain in the countries of the global South, where there is often less capacity to adapt quickly, or recover quickly from the effects it produces. In the case of Costa Rica, this was experienced in a particular way in October 2017, when Hurricane Nate hit the country, causing multiple disasters. It was from this fact that the first meeting between Dìwö and the Boruca community took place, but especially with the ecocultural indigenous women's association Sóˇ Cagrú. Since then, we have been working together on multiple climate action projects that aim to restore the ecosystems of the Boruca mountains.

Thus, the project that was born has been called Bosque para nacer agua - Cránjsúj Díˇ, which has been proposed in four phases: planning, capacity building, implementation and monitoring. As part of capacity building, necessary infrastructures in the territory have been identified. This has included the construction of nurseries, greenhouses, and more recently a seed bank that is under construction, however, providing the territory with safe conditions for mobility and accessibility is an urgent condition. Therefore, a particularly important need for the territory and the population is the construction of a bridge that allows safe transit through the Boruca river and that ensures the ability to maintain work on the land and with it its restoration.

Note about the first steps towards the restoration of the Boruca mountains.

The construction of a bridge that allows the Boruca river to be crossed safely will provide the opportunity to continue working at times of the year when the weather and rains do not allow it, since the river increases its flow and the strength of its current; and given the effects of climate change, the rains are increasingly intense. This will also facilitate maintaining the landscape restoration processes by reforesting those areas that were previously deforested by non-indigenous populations, improving the quality of the forest and protecting the area of ​​the water source, in order to recover and improve ecosystem services such as water supply.

Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the need to increase efforts to further develop local capacities aimed at food sovereignty. For this reason, a bridge will ensure that agricultural work in the area is maintained using traditional techniques. This means producing plants for self-consumption, continuing to work in the nursery and completing the construction of a seed bank, which we call a seed sanctuary and whose objective is to ensure the availability of local seeds for conservation, culture, and development. self-consumption as a strategy to cover local needs and emergencies.

All this will also bring economic benefits for the community and families since it allows maintaining the volunteer and tourism programs that exist in the community and that collaborate in the conservation of the ecosystem and culture in the mountains of Boruca.

Letter from Sóˇ Cagrú about the need for a bridge (spanish).

Dìwö and Sóˇ Cagrú met in 2017 through a collaboration to face the effects caused by Hurricane Nate, and since then we have been allies in various projects in the Boruca community.

The Sóˇ Cagrú ecocultural indigenous women's association is an organization led by indigenous women from the Boruca community in the Brúncajc indigenous territory. Their name translates as "wise women who fight for their culture", and this is exactly what they do with their projects.

Dìwö Ambiental is a non-profit environmental organization founded in 2016 and dedicated to Environmental Conservation through Regenerative Projects with socio-environmental impact in indigenous, rural and urban territories. We are currently part of the Restoration Stewards Program for the mountain ecosystem of the Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL) and the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF).

For this project this is our team:

Lourdes Frasser: community leader, founder and member of Sóˇ Cagrú.

Harold Frasser: sustainable tourism manager, collaborator of Sóˇ Cagrú, with experience in community projects.

Alejandro Alcázar: sociologist and designer, Dìwö Sustainable Construction Coordinator, and has experience in participatory community processes and self-construction. CV

Marlon Webb: Environmental management engineer, CEO of Dìwö and with experience in regenerative projects.

Jimena Araya: social communicator, Communication Director of Dìwö and has experience in community capacity management processes.

Josué Castillo and Fabián Quesada: architecture students collaborating with the coordination of sustainable construction of Dìwö.

Díwö Ambiental Website
Sóˇ Cagrú Facebook page
Díwö Ambiental Instagram