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Examples of projects funded by
CRUSA:
Environment
Education
Science and Technology
Competitive Development
Environment
The Osa Campaign
The
Osa peninsula, an area less than half the size of Rhode Island on Costa
Rica’s Southern Pacific coast, hosts approximately 2.5% of the species
found worldwide. Nowhere on this planet does such a small
area
contain so many distinct tropical ecosystems. Rapid
deforestation, erosion, and poaching threaten the ecosystem and
cherished species such as the jaguar and the scarlet macaw. However, in
2005, the global importance of this unique region led Amigos/CRUSA, The
Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, and the Government of
Costa Rica to come together in the Osa Campaign, an equally unique
conservation effort.
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| Photo: Yamil Saenz |
The
Osa Campaign ran through 2007 and continues to fund projects aimed at
building a biological corridor between national parks, securing
protected areas, launching a marine and costal initiative, and building
the capacity of local organizations. Together, Campaign participants
raised over $19.2 million in support of a clean and peaceful Osa,
including over $250,000 from a national Campaign encouraging Costa
Ricans to invest in their country’s environmental future.
Amigos
of Costa Rica is still accepting donations to help fund Osa projects.
If you would like to support the Campaign, please make a note by
following the instructions on our Contributions page. For more
information, visit the website of the Osa Campaign.
Organization for Tropical Studies
(OTS)
Since
1998, with CRUSA’s support, the OTS has implemented several initiatives
in the Palo Verde National Park and its surrounding areas to promote
the conservation of the park’s wetlands, which are of incalculable
economic and biological value. It has also worked with local
communities to help them use the water resources of the Tempisque River
Basin in a sustainable way in their various economic activities.
As
part of these efforts, the OTS has trained small and medium-scale rice
farmers to use more efficient and eco-friendly production techniques
and has also developed technological tools to help them make informed
decisions about the management of the watershed. Several activities
have been carried out to eliminate invasive plants in the area and the
project has also restored life to the Palo Verde Lagoon, which lay
abandoned for more than two decades. Since 2004 this lagoon has been
visited by around 35,000 aquatic birds of more than 50 different
species.
Education
Omar Dengo
Foundation (ODF)
CRUSA
has a long and successful history of supporting the Omar Dengo
Foundation. During its first year of operations, the CRUSA Foundation
approved a grant to enable the ODF, in partnership with the Ministry of
Education, to establish a computer network linking all the schools
involved in its Computer Education Program. This initiative has
benefited more than half a million students and its impact continues
today.
Since then, CRUSA has supported the ODF in
efforts to consolidate its teacher training programs, promoting
innovation in the classroom through the implementation of different
courses and lectures. It has also supported projects that encourage
critical thinking, greater citizen participation and entrepreneurial
skills through programs that simulate real businesses.
Peace Corps
Since
2001, a valuable cooperative relationship has developed between Peace
Corps volunteers from the United States, the communities to which they
are deployed, and the CRUSA Foundation.
Through its small grants
program, CRUSA has supported Peace Corps volunteers based in Costa Rica
in implementing small, community-based projects in order to promote
cooperation with local residents. These projects facilitate interaction
between Peace Corps volunteers and the communities that they serve and
promote cooperative links known by CRUSA as “people to people”
relations. During the last five years, 59 initiatives of this nature
were approved for a total sum of US$205,000.
Science
and
Technology
 National
Institute of Biodiversity (INBio)
Through
Amigos, CRUSA enabled a donation of approximately $1 million worth of
equipment from the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company to Costa Rica’s
National Institute of Biodiveristy.
The acquisition of this
cutting-edge technology has enhanced INBio’s capability to process its
collection of natural specimens, reducing the time required to process
these materials and increasing productivity levels. This mechanism has
also played a crucial role in securing a donation of US$ 9 million from
the Government of Taiwan and has facilitated various research projects
that have resulted in commercial products based on local
biodiversity.
National Center for
High Technology (CeNAT)
In
2000, a visit by the WB-57 aircraft, a bomber modified by NASA to
conduct high altitude research, ushered in a new era of cooperation
between a number of Costa Rican institutions and NASA. This has
resulted in the implementation of three missions by the WB-57F aircraft
as a platform to study atmospheric and tropical phenomena, and others
related to our country’s geography.
Thanks to
several projects supported by CENAT, this cooperative effort has
produced new photographs for the national cartography service-- the
first time these have been updated in 53 years-- with multi-spectrum
and infrared images of 85% of the national territory. In addition,
high-tech sensors and instruments were used to carry out research on
climate change and natural phenomena, and a laboratory was established
with cutting-edge technology for the analysis and distribution of
photographs and information gathered during these missions.
Competitive
Development
Costa Rican
Investment Board (CINDE)
CINDE
is a unique institution that promotes foreign investment in Costa Rica.
Its most unusual feature is that it is not a government body, but
rather a private, non-political organization dedicated to supporting
the Costa Rican Government in attracting these investments.
CRUSA
has supported CINDE for more than 8 years, during which time this
institution has worked to promote and facilitate the establishment of
major companies in Costa Rica including Intel, Baxter Healthcare,
SYKES, Western Union, Remec and Procter & Gamble, among others.
CINDE’s efforts have indirectly helped to create more than 15,000 new
jobs since 2001.
Ministry of the
Economy, Industry, and Trade (MEIC)
Responding
to a call to improve the capabilities of our small and medium
enterprises (SMEs) in order to take advantage of market opportunities
and meet the requirements of international trade, CRUSA has provided
decisive support to MEIC in business management and training processes
with SMEs throughout the country.
Thanks to the work of this
Ministry, members of more than 211 SMEs have been trained in business
administration, marketing and strategic management in the provinces of
Cartago, Limon, Puntarenas, and San Jose. The changes generated in the
companies have led to the implementation of a new training initiative
with more companies in five other regions of the country.
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