Footprints4ourFuture: A Crowdfunding Campaign for Sustainable Reforestation and Job Creation in Costa Rica

Giancarlo Pucci, PNUD Costa Rica
Published: 16 May 2023
Last edited: 16 May 2023
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Summary

In Costa Rica, the "Footprints4ourFuture" (Huella del Futuro) crowdfunding campaign was launched by BIOFIN and spearheaded by the Vice-President, raised 1.7 million US dollars to reduce unemployment exacerbated by COVID-19, while restoring ecosystems and reforesting vulnerable public-owned lands. With the approval of the first incubation program in Costa Rica for sustainable tourism in indigenous areas, "Raíces" by the Sustainable Development Bank's Governing Council, in total US$ 577.5K mobilized; including US$ 168.5K for the 2022 edition of Raíces, US$ 345K for the CRE-C Program, and US$ 64K for the portfolio of sustainable tourism in Biological Corridors. The program is seeking to mobilize funding through planting and/or restoration of 200,000 trees and 5 years of their maintenance, monitor its implementation, systematize learning and institutionalize the financial mechanism.

Classifications

Region
Central America
Scale of implementation
Local
National
Subnational
Ecosystem
Agro-ecosystem
Agroforestry
Area-wide development
Connective infrastructure, networks and corridors
Forest ecosystems
Freshwater ecosystems
Green roofs / Green walls
Green spaces (parks, gardens, urban forests)
Pool, lake, pond
Rangeland / Pasture
River, stream
Tropical evergreen forest
Urban ecosystem and build environment
Wetland (swamp, marsh, peatland)
Theme
Biodiversity mainstreaming
Cities and infrastructure
Ecosystem services
Food security
Forest Management
Gender mainstreaming
Geodiversity and Geoconservation
Health and human wellbeing
Indigenous people
Infrastructure maintenance
Local actors
One Health
Outreach & communications
Protected and conserved areas governance
Protected and conserved areas management planning
Species management
Sustainable financing
Sustainable livelihoods
Tourism
Traditional knowledge
Water provision and management
Species Conservation and One Health Interventions
Species Conservation Translocations
Species Conservation Planning
One Health
Biodiversity-health nexus
Food systems
Good governance of landscapes
Urban and Disaster Risk Management
City management, governance and finance
Challenges
Land and Forest degradation
Loss of Biodiversity
Ecosystem loss
Infrastructure development
Lack of access to long-term funding
Lack of alternative income opportunities
Changes in socio-cultural context
Lack of public and decision maker’s awareness
Unemployment / poverty
Sustainable development goals
SDG 5 – Gender equality
SDG 10 – Reduced inequalities
SDG 11 – Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 13 – Climate action
SDG 15 – Life on land
SDG 17 – Partnerships for the goals
Business engagement approach
Direct engagement with associations
Indirect through financial institutions
Indirect through government
Indirect through legal actors

Location

Costa Rica

Impacts

The Huella del Futuro #Footprint4ourFuture  program seeks to mobilize resources so that groups, organizations, and individuals can continue their work and increase their impact. Program is aiming to promote:

  • Carbon capture
  • Protections for water resources
  • Biodiversity conservation
  • Enhancement of scenic beauty
  • Food supply
  • Job generation and entrepreneurial opportunities
  • Approximately 157 direct jobs during the first 5 years

To date, there have been several positive impacts demonstrated:

  • Mobilization of US$1.7 million for reforestation and ecosystem restoration projects in Northern Costa Rica
  • Successful implementation of the Footprints4ourFuture initiative, achieving 94% of its initial target
  • Creation of green jobs and reduction of unemployment exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Support for women in charge of reforestation efforts at the community level, benefiting 139 women and 121 men from vulnerable rural communities in Northern Costa Rica
  • Approval of the "Raíces" (Roots) program, the first incubation program for sustainable tourism in indigenous areas in Costa Rica
  • Mobilization of US$577.5K for various sustainability initiatives, including Raíces and the CRE-C Program
  • Introduction of protected area fees that could generate over US$3 million in new revenue, fully earmarked to the country's protected area agency (SINAC)

Contributed by

gamzeakarsu.en_37360's picture

Gamze Akarsu United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), BIOFIN