Who we are
Loma Linda Field Station is an environmental conservation and research organization based in Agua Buena de Coto Brus, Costa Rica.
We conduct applied research to develop efficient and effective methods to restore tropical forest to degraded lands and work collaboratively with partner organizations to translate science into practical tools and training for people working to restore forests.
Location
The Loma Linda Field Station (~60 ha) and nearby Loma Gavilan conservation site (~40 ha) are on the Pacific slope of southern Costa Rica. The beautiful mountainous region ranges from 900m to 2300m in elevation and receives 3200-4000mm of rain annually with a dry season from December to March. The quite rural communities of this region lie in a major biological corridor between Corcovado National Park and La Amistad Internal Park.
Our story
In the early 1950s, the densely forested and wild south frontier of Costa Rica was opened up for settlement. The Cole family pioneered the remote land that became Finca Loma Linda. Over the following 30 years, much of the region underwent a massive change from rain forest to deforested and degraded farmland. Influenced by the new academic field of agroecology and the desire to avoid the extreme degradation that followed deforestation and unsustainable agriculture, a large portion of old growth forest on the farm was protected and new practices adopted. In the 1990s, Loma Linda became a center for outreach to local farmers. In the last decade, the farm has been converted into a biological field station, providing resources for pioneering research on forest restoration.
