A number of months ago, we welcomed Stephen Brooks to Nature Blog. Stephen is a very high energy guy, who is on a mission in Costa Rica. He is an environmental warrior, a proponent of eating healthy foods, and an advocate for sustainable living. Presently, he is very involved in launching the Machuca community, an eco-village project in San Mateo de Orotina, located in the north Pacific region of the country. This serves as the back drop for Stephen’s current contribution. He has a great perspective on where we are at and where we need to be going and I encourage you to read on.

“In 1995, while on vacation in Costa Rica, I witnessed a playground full of indigenous children getting sprayed by a crop duster while playing Soccer. I learned how in order to grow cheaper and cheaper bananas entire ecosystems and countless lives are being destroyed, and this realization changed my life forever and led to a series of business mostly focused in Costa Rica.  I couldn’t believe my eyes. How could a society that has achieved so much be so destructive? We can zip around the world on jets and video chat through our cell phones and yet most of the food we eat is grown with harmful chemicals, while the last remaining sustainable farmers are less and less able to stay in business. So those who should be teaching the whole world how to become sustainable are themselves being lost to unsustainable global trends. We have to turn this around. We can’t think of anything more important to do and so that is what we are devoting our lives to. Whether its through the development of sustainable communities (Kopali Communities) or through the marketing of products grown and produced by sustainable farmers (Kopali Organics). Read on…

Nature Blog is pleased to welcome Stephen Brooks. Stephen is living proof that one person can make a difference. We asked him to write a bit of his story and how he became so involved in environmental and ecological issues in Costa Rica. He has chosen an entrepreneurial path for his work and has developed a series of interrelated enterprises that promote the betterment of Costa Rica, with lessons for all of us, regardless of our own location. He is also a contributing correspondent to Planet Green G Word. 

“I grew up in the suburbs of Miami, Florida and from a very young age became passionate about the ocean and frequently traveled to the island of Bimini, the closest island in the Bahamas. My family was super into fishing and diving and I watched as the big trawl netting and long line fishing began and nearly wiped out the fish off Miami and in Bimini as well. It felt so wrong and certainly helped me realize how much we were a part of this incredible web of life on Earth.

In 1995, I went to visit a girlfriend in Costa Rica and it was this trip that jolted me from my deep slumber and completely altered my path drastically even to this very day. I loved the touristy parts of Costa Rica that we visited, but it wasn’t until I arrived on the southern Caribbean coast that I really started to feel some powerful force calling me there. It’s an unusual area and if you didn’t know you were in Costa Rica you would certainly think you were in Jamaica. Afro-Caribbean, Indigenous Bribri and Cabecar, Costa Ricans of Spanish decent, Nicaraguans inhabit the small Caribbean towns, and a great mix of eclectic foreigners and then in the younger generation a beautiful mix of all of the above. The lush rainforest extends right to the edge of beautiful white and black sand beaches with coral reefs, and the towns have gourmet restaurants, cute bed and breakfasts and a raging nightlife.

I was hooked! I absolutely fell in love with the area, especially the town of Puerto Viejo and the small towns south along the coast. After several days of exploration, we decided to visit the town of Bribri, the administrative center of the Indigenous people. On my way there I was totally floored by the gorgeous landscape and beautiful thatch huts that dotted the hillsides. Read on…