Closing message for the Monteverde-Arenal Initiave:  Expanding into the Bioregion Conference from Dr. Peter Raven, Missouri Botanical Garden:

Over the past half century I have come to love and admire this unique and lovely country Costa Rica, and have come to understand the audacious decisions that have made it a model of peace and understanding.  We can appreciate why the Quaker pioneers were attracted to this special area of Monteverde.  Against this background and that afforded by the biological and human riches of this region, I express my appreciation to you all for your strong efforts over the past few days, efforts from which I am sure there will be many positive outcomes.  Dipping back further in time, it is delightful for me to think that the descendants of the quetzals I so rejoiced to see here in the 1960’s and of the new species of Fuchsia I studied here then are thriving in a protected area of some 135,000 acres, stimulated by the contributions of schoolchildren and preserved by the efforts of so many over the decades. In our overpopulated world, mutual understanding offer the only sure route to sustainability and peace: your interactions illustrate what such efforts mean for the present, and show the way to successes in the future. 

Thank you for making the effort to participate, to Debra Hamilton and her associates at the Monteverde Institute, to Nalini Nadkarni, and to a number of others for their sustained and expert work in making this gathering possible. 

“Pura vida” is a state of mind, not something one gets automatically, but for which one has to do the kind of work that this gathering represents, day after day, month after month, year after year – and I know we will do just that.  My very best congratulations to you all for your efforts during this meeting, and the hope for our common achievement of peace, love, and sustainability in the future.