Hacienda El Viejo National Wild Life Reserve

Azucarera El Viejo, as a promoter of Environmental Development, has 1.138 hectares of protected wild land.

The Hacienda El Viejo National Wild Life Reserve was created through Decree N°35492-MINAET in October of 2009. This private Reserve is composed of 83% of forest areas and 17% of wetlands, which are the habitat of 194 species of plants and 290 species of animals.

This reserve seeks to permanently protect the land and marine biodiversity of its 1,138 hectares by means of a restoration and better use program, with initiatives of sustainable development and community benefits.

Among the protected species, some are in danger of extinction like the Jaribu or Galán sin Ventura. In Costa Rica, there are only 123 individuals of this species.

Since 2012, the Reserve staff has been working on the rehabilitation of the wetlands in this protected area, controling invasive vegetation and water flows.

Eighty-one hectares of wetlands have been intervened, and this led to the opening of reflecting waters so that marine birds can feed, reproduce and nest, thus improving the habitat for 60 species of birds and more than 20 species of plants.

Along with the conservation and rehabilitation projects, we work on raising awareness both in collaborators and in the nearby communities, on priority topics related to the environment. Thus, we reach more than 400 collaborators and 280 children and adults of the nearby communities every year. The environmental education project allows the good practices developed in the company to be replicated by this target public and then the positive impact on the environment grows and increases its scope.