About Us - History

The first stage of the wildlife refuge was created in 2000 initially by Ecovisión S.A with the help of Aventuras de la Naturaleza, managed  by Maurilio Cordero, and the nature guides Roy Orozco, Elias Mora and Josue Rosales and the head gardener Carlos Sánchez. They started with the trails for guided nature walks and later in 2001, after an intense research on the local butterfly species, 30 where selected an ideal venue to observe the butterflies in their four stages of metamorphosis and also  to learn about their essential plants for survival.

In 2005 the refuge began to create a new and very uniquely designed Crocodile Lagoon Exhibit, a water habitat created in the middle of the refuge where crocodiles, caimans, eight species of turtles, and some of the local serpents including Boa Constrictors are displayed in a natural habitat within the exhibit; the public can learn to appreciate these species that are ecologically as important as others but don’t have such as popular reputation. This new exhibit  officially opened in December 2006 with the licensed permission of MINAE.

Fincas Naturales Wildlife Refuge is currently developing, with private institutions, including INBIO, and student programs, various programs and activities to learn about the local species and to develop additional  exhibits with the purpose of helping reproduce species in danger of extinction and for a better access for educating visitors.