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

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

by Gamze Akarsu

Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN)

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)