While Liberia and other parts of Guanacaste are developing fast and experiencing significant growth, the sustainable communities in the Osa Peninsula and our Southern Pacific seem to be taking a different approach to residential development. In the case of Finca Bellavista, sustainability is achieved by seeing the forest for the trees and showing deep respect for nature.

Finca Bellavista is a treetop residential community in the Osa canton that is considered the first modern sustainable community in the world that cleverly takes advantage of the habitat to leave a minimal carbon footprint. The dwellings in Finca Bellavista are constructed high above the ground and are connected by a network of ziplines, rope bridges and other devices typically found in the forest canopies of our eco-tourism hotspots.

This forest treetop village resembles Endor, the jungle planet where Ewoks live in the Star Wars universe, but the residents are very human and very real. This isn’t an eco-lodge like the award-winning Lapa Rios Hotel. The eight residences that dot the deep green forest of Finca Bellavista are permanent structures that have been carefully constructed to avoid the felling of the magnificent trees. The Finca Bellavista neighbors are nature lovers who enjoy the deep solitude of the forest and who do not mind waking up every morning to a cacophony explosion of birdsong.

Life in the Trees

According to a full-length feature article in La Nacion’s Revista Dominical, getting to this pristine community requires considerable hiking. If arriving by motor vehicle, it must be parked at a distance away from the neighborhood, and then appropriate footwear must be donned. The sounds of the jungle are everywhere, and the homes swing lightly in the wind. The homes are somewhat rustic, but each caters to human necessities with features such as bathrooms.

The parking lot of at Finca Bellavista is located a few kilometers away from the living areas. Each home is built to specs with materials and labor purchased from the local communities. Each home can be accessed by means of stairs or bridges. The foundations of the homes are the trees themselves, and the structures are supported by special wood and metal pins that contain minerals that the tree takes advantage of, according to the resident botanist.

The idea behind Finca Bellavista is to minimize harm to the trees and the natural habitat. Construction of each treehouse involves taking into consideration the tree’s features. Protruding branches are a fact of life at Finca Bellavista, so if a tree branch happens to traverse a bedroom, the dwellers must build and live their lives around that branch. Homes are equipped with gas stoves, and potable water from a natural spring is delivered thanks to a network of pipes and filters. Some homes get electricity from solar panels, and most feature dramatic views of the forest, waterfalls and the mountainous landscape.

Community Lifestyle

Life at Finca Bellavista may be utopian, but it is not exempt from some of the complexities of civil societies. The land and the forest have been parceled out into 94 fractions, out of which more than half have already been titled. There are various rules to follow, particularly with regards to the trees. The first rule of treetop living is to never cut down a tree. Community leader and co-founder Erica Mateo explained to La Nacion that some residents may be labeled as passionate tree-huggers and eco-nazis, something that does not bother them.

The neighborhood center includes some suburban comforts like a dining hall and even a Wi-Fi connection. Most of the current residents are North American expats from different walks of life, from military veterans to young families, and 13 full-time workers look after the place. Education for children is envisioned to be split between sending students to the town school located three kilometers down the mountain and home schooling.

Carbon-neutrality and the Role of Sustainable Communities

The number of sustainable communities in Costa Rica is thankfully growing in accord with our country’s commitment to becoming a carbon-neutral nation by 2021. Achieving this certification at a national level will not be easy, particularly since we are now less than a decade away from the desired date and it seems as if our government is not moving decidedly enough in the right direction.

In the past, The Costa Rica Star has written about land conservation efforts, carbon-neutral airlines, organic farms that practice sustainability, a radio station dedicated to ecological conservation, and other subjects that show that our inhabitants are ahead of the government in doing their part to reach the coveted carbon-neutral certification. In La Florita de Pococi, for example, two agricultural scientists accomplished 100 percent carbon-neutrality in a small farming community -the first such achievement in Latin America. Carbon-neutrality is clearly within our reach, but we must work towards that goal within our communities, just like La Florita and Finca Bellavista are doing now.