Rainforest of the Austrians

The Rainforest of the Austrians is a conservation project that was founded in 1991 by Michael Schnitzler and is supported by a club. He tries to protect the 146.1 km ² Esquinas rainforest in the south of Costa Rica through the purchase of land and the introduction of the free purchased land in the existing Piedras Blancas National Park.

History

The rain forest was formerly owned by farmers from the surrounding villages. In order to stop the deforestation of the rainforest by the peasants, the Costa Rican government has declared the area in 1991 to the National Park.

However, since the government lacked the money to purchase all the land and thus for the permanent protection of the entire area, she was instructed in achieving their conservation plans on foreign aid. The purchased by the club land - by the end of 2007 34.7 km ² - were given the symbolic name " Rainforest of the Austrians ". Due to further conservation initiatives are now already 99 km ², or about 67 % of the Esquinas rainforest, in the national park estate. 48 km ² are still privately owned, and are to be acquired in the coming years and incorporated into the National Park. The association funded the hiring of two gamekeepers and support reintroduction projects for endangered animal species as well as social projects in the municipality of La Gamba. The Station La Gamba has set itself the goal of making a contribution to the study of tropical rain forests.

Michael Schnitzler received the 1995 Austrian State Prize for the Environment ( Konrad Lorenz Award ). In 2000, the Rainforest of the Austrians has received the Binding Award for nature and environmental protection ( Liechtenstein ). The Natural History Museum of Vienna has a special exhibition devoted to the project. The ORF has been shown in the television series "Universe" a documentary about the project.