Our Mission

The Foundation For Sustainable Living was established to promote sustainable organic agriculture of diverse food plants, aquaculture, and animal husbandry. We promote development and home construction methods that utilize local materials in well planned, comfortable, but compact living quarters that rely upon renewable power sources.

Our Directors

The Foundation is directed by Franklin E. Wilson with business offices located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. Wilson has raised organic fruit and produce on irrigated farmland in the Rio Grande Valley near Albuquerque. He is a water systems operator, surveyor, land developer and contractor.

Other members of the board of directors include:

Frank S. Wilson
Michelle J. Wilson
Dr. Gary M. Ross, Dentist
Will Ferguson, Attorney
David V. Hartman, Entrepreneur
Lena I. Stuart

OUR PLACE

Agriculture is the foundation of sustainability. The perpetual growing season, abundant rainfall, and fertile soil make Sarchi, Costa Rica an ideal location. With these inherent attributes, an agrarian culture exists in Costa Rica along with a technologically advanced banking, industrial, and tourist economy.

Costa Rica is a peaceful country without an army or military economy. The political stability, friendliness to foreign residents, an improving standard of living, and emergence as a modern technologically progressive country, increases the appeal. A large foreign community with a diverse understanding of many concepts, and a willingness to interact and share their talents with others acts as a magnet to attract other like minded people to the area.

The Finca is in a farming area that grows coffee, sugar cane, ornamental plants and produce. The small town of Sarchi, 4km away on a paved road, provides all the basic services for daily living. Sarchi is best known for the manufacture of fine woodcrafts. Many homes in Costa Rica are furnished with the excellent work produced in the many small shops in this area. The larger, nearby towns of Naranjo, with 30,000 inhabitants, and Grecia, approximately 60,000 inhabitants, provide a more diverse selection of goods and services. The international airport at Alajuela is an hour away and San Jose, the Capital of Costa Rica, is 1 ½ hours by car.

The location at 1200 meters above sea level provides a pleasant year round climate. The homes have neither heating nor cooling but rely on proper siting and design for open air cross ventilation. The farm has several microclimate zones including south slope, hilltop areas, and north slope that goes down to the river and lake.

The Rio Trojas with its source being the many springs on the western slope of Vulcan Poas is about 7 meters wide. In the June through October season, the river rises from 0.3 meters, with a tranquil flow, to a depth of 1.5 meters of rushing torrent.

AFFILIATIONS

The Foundation and Earth Education International have agreed to form a partnership to begin projects with student researchers in January 2007. Earth Education International is headed by Dr. Miguel Karian. Information can be found at their web site, www.earthedintl.org.

The School for Field Studies has five locations worldwide, including one in Atenas, Costa Rica, about one hour from the Foundation’s facility. The School for Field Studies will send students and professors to engage in projects consistent with their common mission. Opportunities for participants range from day long visits to living on the site for weeks at a time. The Director of the Atenas campus is Dr. Noland Quiors, PhD and their staff includes many professors and educators. Their web site is www.fieldstudies.org.

Earth University is located just outside of Guacimo, Limon here in Costa Rica. It is a full time, four year University, dedicated to the study of tropical plants. They have an intern program that places third year students at a project for 15 weeks beginning in December. The farm in Sarchi has invited an intern to live at the farm for the 2006 and 2007 work study period. The student develops and carries out his or her project during the stay. The professors visit the student in the course of the 15 weeks and grade the student for credit. Information on Earth University can be found at www.earth.ac.cr.