Karen Mogensen Reserve
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The Karen
Mogensen Reserve

Help us expand and protect one of the last wild frontiers of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula.

Support the expansion See the master plan
About the reserve

A living stronghold in the heart of the peninsula

The Karen Mogensen Reserve (KMR) is a vital wildlife refuge in the heart of the Nicoya Peninsula, safeguarding 1,030 hectares (2,545 acres) of essential forest, rich biodiversity, and critical watersheds.

This oxygen-producing forest absorbs an estimated 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide every year and is an indispensable source of freshwater for the surrounding communities.

Blue morpho butterfly in the Karen Mogensen Reserve

What lives here

One reserve, thousands of species. Every hectare we protect keeps this web of life intact.

250
Bird species
A haven for diverse avian life
48
Mammal species
From howler monkeys to wildcats
18
Bee species
Crucial for pollination and ecosystem health
30
Reptiles & amphibians
Diverse cold-blooded inhabitants
190
Tree & plant species
Rich botanical diversity fuels the ecosystem
50
Endangered species
Vulnerable flora and fauna under our protection
Kinkajou in the reserve White-faced capuchin monkeys Wildcat in the forest Howler monkey with young Anteater climbing a tree Tropical birds of the Nicoya Peninsula
Puma photographed near the reserve
A sign of success, and a warning

Wildcats on the move

The flourishing ecosystems of the reserve have produced a remarkable development: growing wildcat populations. Pumas, ocelots and jaguarundis are now venturing beyond the protected borders, clear evidence of successful breeding and a healthy environment.

Outside the reserve, these cats meet farms instead of forest. Seeking new hunting grounds, they come into conflict with farmers and risk retaliation for livestock predation.

The only lasting answer is more connected, protected habitat. That is exactly what our expansion plan delivers.
An urgent threat

The forest around the reserve is disappearing

The land surrounding the Karen Mogensen Reserve faces three critical threats, each of them accelerating.

Aerial view of deforestation meeting intact rainforest

Real estate development

Developers clear forest to build roads and housing, fragmenting habitat and severing the wildlife corridors that species depend on.

Cattle farming

Pastures replace native forest on a wide scale, contaminating water and drying up the springs that feed the region.

Plantation-style monoculture

Single-crop plantations degrade the soil, rely on heavy pesticide use and pollute the water that ecosystems and communities share.

Burned forest after a wildfire

Drying forests & fire risk

Declining moisture significantly increases the risk and intensity of wildfires, threatening the entire ecosystem.

Logging in tropical forest

Watershed loss

Deforestation dries up the springs and rivers that both wildlife and local communities rely on.

Cleared and destroyed forest

Biodiversity collapse

Habitat destruction breaks connectivity and pushes more than 50 threatened and endangered species closer to extinction.

Why this place matters globally

A biodiversity hotspot under pressure

6%

of Earth’s biodiversity lives in Costa Rica, on just 0.03% of the planet’s surface.

200×

more biodiversity in one acre of protected Costa Rican land than the global average.

The Nicoya Peninsula is developing fast. Urban expansion, monoculture and cattle farming drive deforestation, while government incentives for forest protection have been partly reversed. What is not protected now may not be there to protect later.

The sharp line between cleared land and standing forest
Karen Mogensen
Our story

A legacy that started in 1955

Karen Mogensen and her husband Nicolas Wessberg settled in Montezuma in 1955, when the Nicoya Peninsula was still largely covered in virgin forest. They watched it fall to cattle farming; by the early 1990s, only 21% of the original forest remained.

Karen and Nicolas became pioneers of Costa Rica’s environmental movement. Their campaigning led to the creation of Cabo Blanco in 1963, the country’s first protected nature reserve and the seed of its celebrated national park system.

Thanks to nearly 30 years of dedication and donor contributions, we have more than tripled the size of the reserve that carries Karen’s name, reversing deforestation hectare by hectare.

Who we are

ASEPALECO

The Karen Mogensen Reserve is owned and managed by ASEPALECO (Asociación Ecológica de Paquera, Lepanto y Cóbano), a Costa Rican non-profit environmental association founded in 1991 and recognized for over 30 years as a leader in nature conservation on the Nicoya Peninsula.

Our work spans land protection, environmental education in local schools, scientific research at our biological climate research station, and community engagement. We operate the Karen Mogensen Eco Lodge, maintain a volunteer forest fire brigade and run a community recycling center.

ASEPALECO is governed by a volunteer board of directors and partners with local communities, national agencies such as SINAC, and international NGOs.

Environmental education group birdwatching in the reserve
Momentum

The expansion has already begun

This is not a plan on paper. With the support of our donors we have taken the first step, and every new contribution builds directly on it.

✓

Lot C: secured

Thanks to our donors, we have acquired Lot C, a 26-hectare property that borders the reserve and hosts a vital water spring. Reforestation is underway.

Your donation unlocks more than its own value. The Boston Foundation has committed to supporting this campaign, contingent on our demonstrating early momentum. Every gift today helps release that additional funding.

Join our growing community of donors

Robert Plant·Provincia de Ferrara·Nepenthes of Denmark·The British Embassy·The Dutch Embassy·Impatto Zero·LifeGate·Foreste Per Sempre·Dario Sonetti·Paolo Petasoni·Ylang Ylang Resort·Sano Banano Hotel·The Tempisque Conservation Area of SINAC (ACT)·The GEF Small Grants Programme (UNDP)·Fundecooperación·ACTUAR Costa Rica·Guy Smallwood·Albert Ingals·Green Waves·The Boston Foundation

Map of the Karen Mogensen Reserve expansion plan, showing the existing reserve and lots A to H
The master plan

One corridor, two phases

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand the reserve and protect this critical part of the biological corridor from permanent destruction.

Phase 1 — $3.2M

Purchase the adjacent farms “A” and “B”, directly extending the protected corridor. Lot C has already been secured.

Phase 2

Purchase the remaining lots “D” to “H”, as well as Matambú, a nature reserve going up for auction.

Urgent conservation opportunity

An immediate opportunity for impact: “Farm A”

We have a critical chance to acquire Farm A, a 443-hectare property directly bordering the Karen Mogensen Reserve. The land is 52% degraded pastureland ready for reforestation and 48% intact mature forest. It is on the market now, and real estate developers are circling.

The total cost of acquiring Farm A and starting immediate reforestation is $2.1 million. An urgent $500,000 is needed to secure the initial purchase before the land is lost to development, permanently.

443
hectares
of critical land for acquisition
$2.1M
total cost
for the land and initial reforestation
$500K
urgent need
to secure the purchase and block development

Put simply: about $4,700 protects one full hectare of this corridor forever, roughly 47 cents per square metre.

Mature forest on Farm A
Farm A — intact mature forest (48%)
Degraded pastureland on Farm A
Farm A — pastureland awaiting reforestation (52%)