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Uvita Tropical Studies Institute (UTSI)

Details

Commenced:	01/02/2002
Submitted:	09/05/2011
Last updated:	07/10/2015
Location:	La Union de Uvita, Uvita, Puntarenas, CR
Phone:	506.8911.4049
Website:	www.utsi.org
Climate zone:	Wet/Dry Tropical

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Uvita Tropical Studies Institute (UTSI)

Project Type

Rural, Educational

Project Summary

UTSI is housed at Finca Carolina, a 23 hectare organic farm and nature reserve and organic farm. Andrew Ogden currently manages UTSI’s station in Uvita. The site is surrounded on one side a by a large tract of nationally protected forest (1,000 ha) and by a large (350 ha) private nature reserve on the other side of the pristine Ballena river. We grow a wide variety of tropical fruits and vegetables organically.

Project Description

We also run an educational tourism operation called Uvita Tropical Studies Institute (UTSI) which is based at Finca Carolina. UTSI, www.utsi.org brings student groups and tourists to Finca Carolina to hike our extensive network of hiking trails, enjoy delicious meals, and stay in our screened in wooden cabins.

Permaculture techniques in place include a large herb spiral, rotating pastures for egg-laying hens, Nitrogen fixing trees, wormcomposting, cover crops, plant guilds, swales, solar power, and a hydraulic powered water pump. We also have an earthen oven we built where we bake delicious pizzas with fresh basil and tomoatoes from the garden. Plans are in the works for ferrocement water storage tanks.

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