August 25, 2022
Welcome, Talula and Yasmin!
The Refugio has recently welcomed two new volunteers, Talula and Yasmin, both second year students from St. John’s College, University of Oxford. Yasmin studies Biology and is enjoying discovering more about the unique adaptations and medicinal properties of the native plants. She is also interested in learning more about sustainable living and permaculture at the…
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June 11, 2022
The environmental inquiry method: trialing a new approach to teaching about ecosystems
On June 8th, we had the pleasure of organizing a workshop with the local environmental women’s group AGRICOP. Their goal: transforming a hectare of their land into a showpiece for regenerative agriculture. We are constantly exploring new ways to get people excited about the countless upsides of regenerative agriculture. Rather than simply giving a lecture…
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March 17, 2022
UC Davis researchers visit the Refugio
At the Refugio, we constantly strive to connect researchers and practitioners from diverse fields related to ecosystem restoration. We have been particularly honored to host Dr. Jenella Loye and Dr. Scott Carroll, two entomologists and evolutionary ecologists at the University of California, Davis. During a tour of the Refugio, conversations revolved around the overlapping interests…
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February 16, 2022
Welcome to the team, Quirine!
We are very happy to have Quirine Melssen (www.quirinemelssen.nl), the well known performer from the Netherlands, join us for a month of volunteering. Apart from caring for our vegetable garden and preparing wonderful meals ‘from farm to table’, her classically trained, warm and engaging voice seems to touch not only us but also several animals…
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February 9, 2022
The return of the masked duck (Nomonyx dominicus)
We are excited to announce that a new animal species found a new habitat in the Refugio: the masked duck (Nomonyx dominicus), a reclusive and rarely seen diving duck of the tropical lowlands. They feed at night and during the day one can see them sleeping on the pond never far from the shore. They…
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February 1, 2022
Read Alexander’s interview with Stanford University’s MAHB
Following a series of enriching conversations between Geoffrey Holland of Stanford University’s Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere (MAHB) and Alexander, the interview “Refugio Tinti: Reflections of Nature’s Design” has now been published. You can read it here to learn more about the Refugio’s path from wasteland to sanctuary, Alexander’s views of the challenges…
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January 31, 2022
Meet Bela, our new volunteer
Bela arrived last week from Austria to volunteer at the Refugio. He is a certified permaculturalist who recently helped building up a permacultural farm in Sri Lanka. His experience in the tropics and his fine sense for patterns comes in handy at the Refugio. Being very proactive, Bela is in charge now of the reorganisation…
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January 25, 2022
Welcoming Christine
We are happy to welcome Christine from Germany to volunteer at the Refugio for a few weeks. Since her arrival our culinary joys received a significant upgrade. Inventively including ‘exotic’ herbs and plants grown in the Refugio she helps us make a large step towards our goal from-farm-to-table. At home, Christine owns the beautiful Restaurant…
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January 15, 2022
Appearance of the neotropical river otter (Lutra longicaudus) in the Refugio
Exciting news: for the first time since our arrival 5 years ago, we can announce the sighting of a mother with two cubs of the neotropical river otter, another species threatened by extinction that found a new habitat in the Refugio and even produced offspring. River otters have been brought to the brink of extinction…
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August 18, 2021
Endangered big cats captured on camera traps in the Refugio Tinti
Being a wildlife sanctuary and having the goal to create habitats for as many animal species as possible, sightings of new species are always an exciting event. The University of Costa Rica is monitoring the animal species living at the Refugio with camera traps. This time the ‘harvest’ was particularly exciting: besides the usual peccaries,…
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