International Internship for U.S. – Costa Rica Sister Park Agreement

During the autumn of 2014, Melissa Garcia, a Costa Rican student from CEDES Don Bosco technical high school in San José, spent the season in Minnesota as an intern at the Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway. She is the first international intern to serve under the Sister Park Agreement between the U.S. and Costa Rica, and as an outcome has designed and produced the first bilingual Junior Ranger booklet for the sister parks in the Osa Peninsula and the St. Croix.

Read more here.

Open Courses at the University of Costa Rica

From December 4th – 19th, 2014 and from January 5th - 6th, 2015 the University of Costa Rica in Golfito will have open matriculation for free courses in multiple subjects. A few course offerings include HTML5 and CSS programming, Java programming, Strategic Business Computation, Business Plan strategies, and English lessons for various levels.

For more information, read here (in Spanish).

The “20X20” Forest Restoration Initiative

At the Global Landscapes Forum in Lima, Peru, various Latin American countries have agreed to restore 20 million hectares (ha) of degraded lands over the next 20 years by means of natural regeneration and reforestation. This forum was held in parallel with the Lima Climate Change Conference, also in Lima, Peru. The countries that have pledged to restore forests include Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, and Costa Rica, which will be responsible for the restoration of 50,000 ha alone. In total, USD $365 million have been committed to finance the 20X20 initiative.

Read more here (in Spanish) and here (in English).