MagazineR821

The story of the establishment ofthe Austrian research station in LaGamba starts with a musician,Michael Schnitzler, grandson ofthe Austrian playwright andnovelist Arthur Schnitzler. In 1991Schnitzler was at the peak of ahighly successful career as aviolinist: he had enjoyed a spell asleader of the Vienna SymphonikerOrchestra, he played in therenowned Haydn Trio and he wasa Professor at the Vienna Collegeof Music.

Not surprisingly, his hecticlifestyle was proving a strain andSchnitzler decided to buy a houseoutside Austria where he couldretreat from the pressures of work.The cold Viennese winters were afurther source of discontent (hewas born and grew up inCalifornia) so he concentrated hissearch on warmer areas. CentralAmerica seemed to offer an idealcombination of easy access,pleasant weather and comparativeseclusion and Schnitzlereventually settled on a house in aremote location in south-westernCosta Rica, close to the borderwith Panama, where he hoped toenjoy a relaxing life.

It did not take him long to noticethat there was a large area ofintact forest immediately behindhis new home. This was privatelyowned but the Costa Ricangovernment had provisionallyreserved it as a national park if thenecessary funds could be foundfor its purchase. During his travelsthrough Central AmericaSchnitzler had seen the results ofdeforestation and was determinedto do something to prevent ‘his’local forest — one of the fewremaining patches of primaryrainforest on the Pacific coast inCentral America — from sufferingthe same fate.

On returning to Austria hediscussed the matter with friends

and they suggested launching anappeal in Austria to raise moneyto buy the forest. A similarapproach had been used by theWWF to purchase an area offorest near Vienna: why should itnot work for land in Costa Rica?Schnitzler founded an association,which he termed Regenwald derÖsterreicher (Rainforest of theAustrians) to collect money andpromoted it by means of lecturesand radio and televisionappearances. The idea caught onextremely well and to date theAustrian public has donated atotal of 2 million euros (about £1.3million) to Schnitzler’s association.

“At a time whendeforestation in the tropicsis continuing at an alarmingrate this... represents asignificant success story”

The vast majority of the moneycollected has been (and is being)used to purchase rainforest.Forest patches are selected byMINAE (Costa Rica’s MinisteriaNaturale, Ambiente e Energia) andafter purchase they are handedover to the Costa Ricangovernment and become part ofthe Rainforest of the Austrians,itself part of the Piedras BlancasNational Park. Of the total 142 km2

of the National Park,approximately 45 km2 is includedin the Rainforest of the Austrians.A large proportion of theremainder is still in privateownership and thus unprotectedbut it is hoped that theorganization Costa Rica-USA, withsupport from the NatureConservancy and ConservationInternational, will step in topurchase it. It is also hoped to

create a forest corridor to link thePiedras Blancas National Park tothe nearby Corcovado NationalPark, thereby forming an extendedprotected area around the GolfoDulce, which will be declared aUNESCO World BiosphereReserve. The associationRainforest of the Austrians isheavily involved in all thediscussions and it is hoped thatits experience in the purchase ofrainforest in the area will helpsolve the considerableadministrative difficultiesassociated with the protection ofthe remaining forest.

A relatively small associationhas thus been able to ensure theconservation of a large area ofprimary rainforest in SW CostaRica, with a good chance that aneven greater area will soon beprotected. At a time whendeforestation in the tropics iscontinuing at an alarming rate thisnaturally represents a significantsuccess story. But Schnitzlerrealised from the start that muchmore could be accomplished withthe Rainforest of the Austriansthan simply guarding it. In a radiointerview in 1992, shortly after thefirst portion of rainforest wasacquired, Schnitzler suggestedestablishing a research station inthe area. The broadcast washeard by Anton Weber, aProfessor of Botany at theUniversity of Vienna, who was atonce intrigued by the idea anddetermined to look seriously intoit. Early in 1993, two of Weber’sstudents, Werner Huber and AntonWeissenhofer, went to Costa Ricato see what could be done. AsHuber says, “Our initial impressionwas far from positive and wealmost abandoned everything atonce. But after we returned toAustria the idea of setting up inCosta Rica gradually grew moreand more attractive.” Huber andWeissenhofer thus decided tocarry out their undergraduateresearch projects in the La Gambaarea and in 1994 the

Researchers from a small European country have backed a project setup ten years ago in Costa Rica that has now become a major influencein conservation and research. Graham Tebb reports.

Feature

An Austrian foothold in the tropics

Tropenstation La Gamba (LaGamba Field Station) wasinaugurated. They began to studythe local flora and a fellow studentfrom the University of Vienna,Astrid Keber, an Argentinean bybirth and at the time the onlySpanish speaker of the three,came with them and began tostudy the area’s butterflies. Thethree students also worked onimproving the availableinfrastructure, although it was farfrom certain that the station wouldhave a future after their projectswere finished.

Field work occupied only part oftheir time and while they were inVienna they did what they could topromote interest in the station. AsHuber says, “It was amazing howmany people from the Universityof Vienna came to ask us aboutour experiences in Costa Rica.”Soon, other students came towork in La Gamba and in 1996 ateam from Vienna’s NaturalHistory Museum visited the forestto organize an exhibition in theMuseum, which served to spreadawareness of the station’sexistence even further.

Work on expanding andupgrading the station hasproceeded steadily. It now has

four separate buildings and cancomfortably accommodate up totwenty persons. It houses a wellequipped library and essentialitems of scientific equipment suchas microscopes, computers, GPSequipment and a digital camera.

A botanical garden wasestablished in 1998, primarily topermit experiments to beperformed under naturalconditions. A welcome side-effectof the garden is that it allowsvisitors easily to becomeacquainted with selected plants ofthe area; it also contains acollection of over 100 tropical fruittrees and plants used by man.Last year a canopy tower wasbuilt, providing scientists withready access to what is possiblythe most interesting and certainlythe most difficult to investigateportion of the rainforest. Andplans are currently being preparedfor the construction of a butterflyhouse, which would open up stillfurther experimental possibilities.Until the end of 2003 the LaGamba Field Station was formallyadministered by the Rainforest ofthe Austrians.

From the start of 2004,however, responsibility for thestation’s management was

transferred to a new association,the Verein zur Förderung derTropenstation La Gamba(Association for the Support of theLa Gamba Field Station) under theleadership of Roland Albert,Professor at the University ofVienna’s Institute of Ecology andConservation. Huber andWeissenhofer have remainedheavily involved with the stationand following completion of theirstudies they assumed the role ofscientific coordinators.

In the decade since the stationwas established many scientistshave taken advantage of itsfacilities and the access it offersto a large area of primary forest inCentral America. The majority ofthem have come from Austria,especially from the University ofVienna, but scientists from severaluniversities in Germany andSwitzerland, as well as from CostaRica and the United States, havealso carried out research at thestation. As scientific work in theneotropics becomes increasinglysubject to bureaucraticrestrictions, scientists are growingmore and more keen to worksomewhere where so littlepaperwork is required toundertake research. La Gamba is

Current Biology Vol 14 No 19R822

Hidden entrance: the modest sign displayed at the boundary of La Gamba, the Austrian reserve and research station in the south-west of Costa Rica, belies an influential and dynamic programme of activities and conservation efforts that extend well beyond itsown boundaries. (Photograph: Werner Huber).

thus receiving a steadilyincreasing number of requests forvisits from scientists. A scientificadvisory board, made up ofdistinguished Austrian scientists,helps to ensure that work at theStation remains of high quality.

Huber and Weisenhofer’sbackground as botanists and theircontinued affiliation with theUniversity of Vienna’s Institute forBotany may be largely responsiblefor the preponderance ofbotanists among the visitors. As aresult the botany of the area hasreceived a considerable amountof attention. The results havebeen dramatic: approximately 600different species of trees havebeen found in the forest, ten timesas many as occur in the whole ofEurope. With approximately 2,700different species of plant, theforest is one of the most species-rich on earth.

In 2001 work on thecharacterization of the forest’sflowering plants was sufficientlyfar advanced to permit thepublication of An IntroductoryField Guide to the FloweringPlants of the Golfo DulceRainforests, which was greeted byextremely favourable reviews. Andstudies of some other majorgroups of plants, such asepiphytes, hemi-epiphytes, palms,legumes, Rubiaceae and fernsand their allies, should bepublished shortly.

Attention is also being paid tothe other members of therainforest community and studiesof mammals (all four species ofmonkey in Costa Rica can befound in the area, together withnumerous other mammalsincluding over 70 species of bat),butterflies (150+ species), otherinsects and reptiles andamphibians (over 100 species) arein progress.

Surprisingly, the area’s birdshave received comparatively littleattention to date (over 370 specieshave nevertheless been recorded),although the Rainforest of theAustrians is widely recognizedamong birdwatchers as the bestplace to go to see the black-cheeked ant-tanager (Habiaatrimaxillaris), one of only a handfulof bird species found exclusively inmainland Costa Rica.

The extent of relativelyundisturbed habitat makes thearea a suitable site forconservation programmestargeted at individual species. Formany years the Rainforest of theAustrians has worked togetherwith the Costa Rican Zoo Ave andwith the organization Pro Felis toreintroduce threatened speciesthat were previously found in thearea. Prominent among theanimals and birds released in theRainforest of the Austrians are thescarlet macaw (Ara macao), thepopulation of which had beendecimated by hunting and illegaltrapping, and the ocelot(Leopardus pardalis).

But many individuals of otherspecies, usually taken fromcaptivity, have also been set free inthe forest and thus help to restoreand maintain the species diversityof the region. Weissenhofer notes,“Releasing animals and birds in theforest is an extremely trickyundertaking as most of theindividuals we see have grown upin captivity and need to be ‘taught’to survive in the wild. In addition,we have to work closely with thelocal communities to make surethey understand that the ocelotsbeing released are not at alldangerous to man.”

A large proportion of theresearch at La Gamba isperformed by students working onshort-term projects. AsWeissenhofer says, “We have toremember that La Gamba is auniversity facility and universitiesexist not only to carry outresearch but also to train andeducate students. One of the mainadvantages of the station is that itgives the University of Vienna arelatively cheap way of sendingstudents to work in the tropics.This stimulates their interest andallows them to see whether theyare interested in working further inthe area.” To date over thirtystudents have completed theirundergraduate theses at LaGamba and countless more haveundertaken short study visits, forexample as part of the course intropical biology offered toundergraduates at the Universityof Vienna.

In addition, members of thepublic who donated money to

purchase rainforest are eager tovisit ‘their’ portion of land. Topermit more people to visit thearea, the Esquinas RainforestLodge was built at the edge of therainforest. The construction wassupported by a grant from theAustrian government and theresulting lodge offers comfortableliving conditions for groups andindividual tourists, as well asoffering them immediate accessto the adjacent rainforest.

In addition, and of much moreimportance, the presence of thelodge enables the local villagersto profit directly from the forest,which naturally encourages themto help protect it. The village of LaGamba has a population ofaround 400 and formerly reliedlargely for its existence onagriculture, particularly work inthe nearby banana plantations.Unfortunately, however, decadesof overexploitation have led to theinternational banana concernswithdrawing from the area so theEsquinas Rainforest Lodge offersat least some positions tovillagers, who work as guides,gardeners, cooks and supportstaff. Additional employmentpossibilities are provided by thefield station. As Weissenhofersays, “We tried from the start toinvolve local villagers in therunning of the station. The localcommunity must see that wehaven’t simply come to ‘steal’scientific information from theirforests but that we are keen towork together with them toensure the long-term viability ofthe station.”

The Esquinas Lodge and the LaGamba Field Station are presentlythe only facilities offering full-timeemployment in La Gamba. Theirpresence is acting as a catalystfor other development projects inthe area, such as thoseadministered from itsheadquarters in Nicaragua by theÖsterreichische Regionalbüro fürEntwicklungszusammenarbeit (theAustrian Regional Office forCooperation in Development).Work has concentrated largely onimprovements to the agriculturalpractices but has also includedextending the village’s school.The latest initiative, to be carriedout in cooperation with the Costa

MagazineR823

Rican foundation FundaciónNeotrópica and the nearby townof Golfito, involves building amedical clinic in La Gamba. TheRainforest of the Austrians hasonce again been collectingdonations, this time to pay for thehospital’s equipment.

Thus the Rainforest of theAustrians is managing to involveand benefit the local communitywhile continuing to work towardsits primary goals of conservation,research and education. To date ithas been funded largely bydonations from individuals andgovernments but it is hoped thatthe income from eco-tourism willin time cover an increasingproportion of the costs. To thisend, Huber and Weissenhoferhave established a travelcompany, Excursiones Naturales,that specializes in natural historytours to Costa Rica, offering twoor three such trips per year.

Huber and Weissenhofer areboth optimists by nature: “Wehave to be or we would havegiven up a long time ago.” Theyclearly believe that the Rainforestof the Austrians will continue toprovide a research and educationresource to students andscientists worldwide for manyyears to come and they hope thatit will serve as a model forconservation efforts in othercountries. “We were lucky that theCosta Rican government was sowilling to help us protect therainforest and that it still does all itcan to facilitate our research. Ifanybody who visits us or readsabout La Gamba is encouraged toundertake something similar inanother country, we can only wishthem luck. Nothing would pleaseus more than seeing a Rainforestof the Germans somewhere inWest Africa except ...maybeseeing a Rainforest of the Englishin South-east Asia!”

Further information can be foundat: www.lagamba.at andwww.regenwald.at andwww.naturreisen.at

Current Biology Vol 14 No 19R824

The battle against malaria isdraconian. Its basis is that ofkilling the adult mosquitovectors with insecticides insidehomes, killing larvae withinsecticides in their breedinggrounds or, for wealthytravellers from the developedworld visiting malarial areas,killing malarial parasites in theblood with drugs that may havebeen transmitted by a mosquitobite. But such approachescome with an economic andenvironmental cost that is toomuch for many regions.

A new report, published inthe Proceedings of the RoyalSociety, series B, published online, describes a study whereresearchers have physicallyremoved algae from thebreeding pools occurringalongside a river in southernMexico during the dry seasonthat are the major breedingsites for the malaria-carryingmosquito Anophelespseudopunctipennis.

A team led by J. GuillermoBond at Ecosur, in Chiapas,Mexico, along with collegueselsewhere in Mexico and inSpain, divided a section of theRiver Coatan into two 3 kmstretches. In the first year of theexperiment they cleared algae

from the upstream pools of theriver but left the lower poolsintact. In the second year of theexperiment they reversed thetreatments. Using traps andhuman volunteers theyestimated the number of bitingadult mosquitoes in both zonesfollowing their intervention.

The researchers found asignificant decrease in adultbiting insects in the areasurrounding the treatedstretches. With mark-recaptureexperiments they found thatmosquitoes rarely travelledmore than one kilometere fromtheir breeding grounds,suggesting that local actioncan have a significant impacton decreasing mosquitonumbers, reducing the need fordamaging insecticides. Theeffect of the algal clearancealso persisted for five to sevenweeks, giving substantialreduction in malarial risk.“Habitat manipulation byextraction of filamentous algaeappears to offer a uniqueopportunity for sustainablecontrol of an important vectorof malaria,” the authorsconclude. And at considariblyless cost and environmentalimpact than the use ofinsecticides.

Pooling success against malaria

Parasite lost: physical clearance of algae from pools in which a major mosquito vectorbreeds in central America produces a significant decrease in numbers of flying adults.(Picture: Photolibrary.com.)