The TUVA Foundation and Friends of the Osa sign a merger agreement to consolidate conservation efforts

Recently, the TUVA Foundation and Friends of the Osa (FOO) have joined forces to give more strength to conservation efforts.  The merger of both organizations took place officially in the month of May,  when he merger agreement was signed by the president of TUVA and FOO's representative in Costa Rica, Manuel Ramirez.

Under the agreement, the offices of the larger, stronger organization will continue to be in the TUVA' headquarters in Puerto Jimenez.  All TUVA's experienced local staff, that have worked for almost 10 years with the foundation have  been transferred to the new organization, which will continue to operate under the name of Friends of the Osa.  This actually was the name of TUVA's first newsletter in 1990 and it has been used during the last years to refer to the large group of people, both local and from many nationalities,  that have made possible the protection of the Osa Peninsula from logging and irrational development.

TUVA will also transfer all its assets to the new organization and will remain owner of the building that serves as our office center in Pto. Jimenez.  The field station facilities in Rio Piro will be renovated and transformed into a moderns Biodiversity Center, which will coordinate the work to manage the Osa National Wildlife Refuge, one of TUVA's and Friends of the Osa most important achievements in the area.

Friends of the Osa will continue managing all community conservation programs initiated by TUVA, except the programs that were already finishing, such as the Indigenous Program, that provided support to the Ngabe native people in areas such as leadership training, solar energy and communications, primary health, fallen timber management, recovery of history and language, traditional music and crafts.

We all hope at TUVA's that this merger, which consolidates conservation efforts within a single spearhead, instead of duplicating organizations, will serve the people and the forests of the Osa Peninsula, making possible a brighter future for everyone involved, while making sure that this unique part of the world remains protected as a treasure for all.