Click to enlarge		Checklist for Recording the Description of Orchids	NEOTROPICAL ORCHID ECO-TOURISM: EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF AN ORCHID NEOPHYTE AT THE BOSQUE DE PAZ BIOLOGICAL RESERVE, CENTRAL VOLCANIC RANGE, COSTA RICA DR. STEPHEN H. KIRBY Research Geophysicist, U.S. Geological Survey
		Formulario para la Descripción de Orquídeas
		An Orchid Inventory And Conservation Project At Bosque De Paz Biological Reserve, Upper Rio Toro Valley, Alajuela, Costa Rica
		A Form And Checklist For The Description And Categorization Of Orchids In Field And Laboratory Work
		3rd International Orchid Conservation Congress (Iocc)
		II International Conference On Neotropical Orchidology

Setting, History, and Founding Philosophy of the Preserve Bosque de Paz Biological Preserve is located in Alajuela Province on the Caribbean flank of the Central Volcanic Range, a part of a nearly continuous arc of active volcanoes extending from southern Mexico to central Costa Rica near 84°W longitude. This chain of volcanic mountains is a consequence of subduction of the seafloor of the eastern Pacific (the Cocos plate) under Central America (the Caribbean plate). Subduction is thus responsible for the mountainous terrain and, together with the prevailing trade-wind patterns, is the primary control on precipitation patterns in Central America and hence for the cloud-forest conditions in that region. Because it is close to the continental divide, it receives precipitation from winds that originate from either side of the divide, and hence receives rainfall even during the "dry" season. The Lodge is at an elevation of about 1400 m and is about 7 km from Poas (at elevation 2704 m). Within this area of about 1000 hectares (about 2500 acres), topographic relief exceeds 1100 m and the highest point is at about 2450 m. The property consists of primary and secondary cloud forest and grazing land that is presently in the slow process of being reforested. Several streams in the Rio Toro watershed dissect the property, thus producing steep terrains and riparian and waterfall environments.

The preserve was created by Federico González-Pinto and his wife, Vanessa and their son, Federico Jr., in order to "protect the exuberant flora and fauna in the Central Volcanic Range of Costa Rica", to "create consciousness about the importance of conservation" and, by acquiring specific rainforest habitat and to establish a key corridor for regional biological exchange along the volcanic range. A 22-km-long system of trails gives excellent access to the types of terrains found in the Preserve. Bosque de Paz opened for scientific study and research in 1994 and was opened to the public in 1998 with a spacious lodge of 11 rooms and a first-class dining facility.

Orchids at the Preserve

Because the system of trails requires sustained maintenance to clear branch and tree falls, epiphytic orchids are frequently brought down to eye level. Exceptional falls occurred, for example, during Hurricane Mitch in September of 1998. Sr. González-Pinto and son Federico González-Sotela, Jr. conceived the idea of relocating these plants to make them more accessible to the visitors of the Preserve and sought advice from orchid experts about how these relocations might be done successfully.

They began salvaging and relocating air-fall orchids to the branches of small trees near the Lodge in the mid 1990's. The resulting 75-m-longBotanical Trail was opened in 1996.

An orchid garden was also created in the year 2000 by relocating plants to trees surrounding a new assembly building. Eye-level relocations of orchids elsewhere along the system of trails also provide interest for orchid enthusiasts in seeing these plants making a living in a nearly natural state.

The collection of orchids at the Preserve (see the list below) is diverse and reflects not only the showy species but also the smaller, less conspicuous ones, such as those in the Pleurothallinid Alliance. Also, very large species, such as some of those in the genus Maxillaria that are rarely found in collections or in cultivation, are also strongly represented. The collection is therefore more representative than those usually found in casual collections or in typical public displays in most botanical gardens. The positioning of relocated plants within these display areas is seemingly random, but in fact is based on the 15-year practical experience of Sr. Porras as an orchid gardener. The success of these relocations speaks for itself. These plants generally have survived, produce new growths, usually blossom and often are pollinated, judging from the fruiting and spent seedpods that are evident. It is not known if propagation by the resulting seeds has occurred. In a way, these relocations represent a large-scale botanical experiment in which many orchid species; potential pollinators and symbiotic fungi are juxtaposed in a way that may not exist in the cloud forest itself.

The efforts that the González family has made in creating public access to orchids have resulted in an estimated 20% of their clients being orchid enthusiasts, a high percentage for tropical nature preserves.

Orchids at the Preserve also enrich the experiences of birders and others interested in natural history. The preserve has attracted groups of professional orchidists and orchid hobbyists, including the Orchid Association of Japan and botanists from several notable botanical gardens and natural history museums.

Species and Genera Lists for Bosque de Paz and the Environs around the Nearby Town of Bajos del Toro To my knowledge, there has been no systematic or sustained collection, study and identification of the orchids in this part of the Central Volcanic Range. The following is a partial list mainly based on the collections and identifications of Dr. Franco Pupulin of Lankester Gardens and a very few by myself (asterisks*). Undoubtedly this list is but a fraction of the species present in the preserve:

Acinetta sp.*, Kapristania sp., Chondrorhyncha picta, Cochleanthus discolor*, Cochleanthus picta, Cryptocentrum sp, Dichaea lankesteri, Dichaea pendula, Dichaea robusta, Dichaea cf. glauca, Dichaea morrisii*, Diodonopsis erinacea, Dracula astute, Elleanthus robustus*, Epidendrum goniorhachis, Epidendrum incomptum, Epidendrum parkinsonia*, Epidendrum radicans*, Goniochilus lecochilinus, Jacquiniella teretifolia, Kefersteinia wercklei, Lepanthes estrellensis, Lepanthes eximia, Lepanthes jimenezii, Lockhartia amoena*, Lockhartia oerstedii*, Malaxis sp, Maxillaria acervata, Maxillaria inaudita, Maxillaria neglecta, Maxillaria parvilabia, Maxillaria trilobata, Maxillaria cf. dendrobioides, Maxillaria quadrata*, Maxillaria punctostriata, Maxillaria biolleyi*, Miltoniopsis warszewiczii, Oerstedella pumila, Oncidium bracteatum, Oncidium sp. (several unidentified species)*, Osmoglossum egertonnii*, Pleurothalinid Alliance: Many other unidentified species, Pleurothallis immersa*, Prosthechea campylostalix, Prosthechea pygmaea, Restrepia trichoglossa, Sigmatostalix guatemalensis, Sigmatostalix picta*, Specklinia calyptrostele, Specklinia strumosa, Stelis megachlamys, Telipogon biolleyi, Tricopilia suavis*, Trichosalpinx blaisdellii, Trichosalpinx ciliaris*, Warszewiczella discolor, Xilobium squalens*

Building an Orchid Eco-Tourism System in Costa Rica and Elsewhere in Latin America Orchids and orchid growing are increasing in worldwide popularity and public interest. In the last five years, there have been two popular books about orchids that were on the bestseller list of the New York Times. A popular 2002 television program in the BBC/PBS Nova series also raised interest in orchids. There are more than 500 local orchid societies affiliated with the American Orchid Society alone. Moreover, many millions of people grow orchids at home, ranging from those who own large orchid greenhouses or lath houses to the casual windowsill grower.

This group is largely an untapped potential market for orchid eco-tourism, a business opportunity for nations in the tropics, an opportunity for education of citizens worldwide to be better informed about the conservation of tropical orchid ecosystems and about orchid natural history and an opportunity to advance orchid science by encouraging more involvement of enthusiastic volunteers. I believe that orchid hobbyists are no less enthusiastic about orchids than birders are about birds.

Costa Rica is to be commended for the leadership it has taken in conserving its ecosystems and hence preserving its biological resources and diversity. The following recommendations for building orchid eco-tourism are based on my own yearly vacationing experience in the country over the last 5 years and my perceptions of the things that could potentially attract other orchid enthusiasts. Some of these recommendations are obvious

1. Develop site-specific species lists, likely blooming dates and identification tags on plants in preserves and parks. Knowing where one might find a particular group of species and when one might expect them to flower would help in the planning of vacations around orchids, just as information on the geographic distribution and breeding seasons of birds are useful to visiting birders. This requires sustained on-site record keeping of blooming and careful plant identifications and labeling.

2. Bring more "orchids to the people or take people to the orchids". Seeing orchids in a state close to nature is a far richer experience than seeing them hanging in a lath house or in a greenhouse. Unfortunately, a large fraction of orchid plants occur in the inaccessible forest canopy. Relocations of air-fall plants to low branches like those practiced by Bosque de Paz are a useful first step. Creating aerial tramways is too costly and does not allow for close inspection of plants. Creating "orchid observatories" by building walkways from steep hillside trails to large nearby orchid-bearing trees could provide closer-to-nature experiences. Bringing orchid-bearing logs down from the canopy by pulleys might also be a useful way of bringing orchids and people together. 3. Build tours of orchid destinations that provide a range of experiences for orchid hobbyists. Put together a sequence of orchid destinations that allow people with similar interests in orchids to meet, naturally starting with Lankester Gardens. Advertise such tours in the newsletters and publications of the orchid societies.

4. Provide educational opportunities for nature guides so that they can be better informed about Costa Rica's orchid flora and biology. My experience with perhaps 40 nature guides in Costa Rica is than not more than one in 20 really know very much about Costa Rican orchids and the wonders of tropical orchid biology. An enthusiastic and informed guide can make all the difference. For myself, Federico González Sotela, Jr., although not a specialized guide in orchids but informed through his own self education and native curiosity, gave me an enthusiastic introduction to the orchids of the Preserve. A national training system does exist for Costa Rican nature guides, but I suspect that orchids are lightly covered, if at all. This situation can be changed with the active participation of orchid specialists.

5. Encourage participation of enthusiastic volunteers in orchid research by providing in-country instruction and facilities for study. Perhaps amateurs can be involved in volunteer efforts to identify and relocate air-fall plants after large tropical storms. 6. Provide more opportunities for CITES-approved in-country orchid sales and foreign shipments. Nothing raises one's excitement in and knowledge of a plant than trying to grow and bloom it yourself at home. I know that under CITES rules one can buy in-flask orchids easily, but facilitating shipment of more-mature plants would be a helpful development.

7. Take advantage of computer and web technology to provide more comprehensive pictorial guides to orchids that aid in the identification and appreciation of orchid genera and species by amateurs. Field guides with identification keys, such as Robert Dressler's Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama and the volumes in the Flora Costaricensis Series in the journal Fieldiana are extremely useful, but the learning curve for the morphological and taxonomic terminology is steep and daunting and probably beyond most orchid hobbyists. Quality photographic images of both the flowers and plants of orchid species with scales would provide more accessible identification tools for the orchid tourist.

To conclude, looking for orchids has many advantages over birding. It is something that doesn't have to be done at 6 bloody AM . Orchids don't fly off when you try to photograph them or migrate to distant places with the seasons. Moreover, I believe that the community of amateur orchid enthusiasts can do for orchid science and orchid conservation what birders have done for ornithology and for conservation of avian ecosystems.

Acknowledgements
I thank the González-famly for providing some of the factual details about Bosque de Paz and Franco Pupulin for generously providing me a partial species list. Federico González-Sotela, Jr. gets the credit (or the blame) for introducing me to orchids in the wild. I also thank my friend Dr. Marino Protti (Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica, Universidad Nacional) for sharing with me his knowledge of the natural history of Costa Rica.

Stephen H. Kirby is a Research Geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Geology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1975. Since then he has done research on the physical properties of rocks and on the physics of earthquakes and volcanoes in subduction zones. He is the author of more than 125 peer-reviewed research articles, has edited several books and organized several international symposia on these topics. He is also a hobby orchid grower and has vacationed yearly in Costa Rica since 1998. He has been a member of the (San Francisco) Peninsula Orchid Society and the American Orchid Society since 1999.