Preservation

Work has begun to create a park in the hills above El Sargento! The Assembly of the Ejido of El Sargento and Su Anexo La Ventana have been very supportive of the creation of a Parque Ejidal de Senderismo (Ejido Trail Park).

We are very grateful for this vote of confidence, and this is a great step because it shows that we do have a path to try and conserve some of our best trails and beautiful vegetation. Truth is though, we still have a lot of work to do.

The project requires creating a Servidumbre Ecologica (ie Conservation Easement) in order to officially protect the land. This is a lengthy process that we hope will end soon so we can focus on drafting a Servidumbre contract to submit to the Ejido Assembly for approval.

The project also calls for an annual monetary incentive for the Ejido. This incentive is a way to thank and compensate the Ejido for voluntarily setting aside part of their land for conservation. The great news is that two generous donors have stepped up with the funds to cover us for the first year incentive so that we can focus on making this a reality right now. Thank you donors!

LaVESTA has teamed up with the International Community Foundation (International Community Foundation | Non Profit Organization, ICF). Through ICF we created a special project fund to handle the financial transactions for the park incentive payments. This provides two big advantages – LaVESTA will be able to rely on ICF for all the legal and fiscal details, and also ICF will provide extra insurance to LaVESTA’s donors that their money is spent only for the intended purpose. The following step will be to get the Servidumbre contract finalized and approved.

If you would like to help support this project, please donate here.

Below you can read about our vision and the benefits this park could add to the community.

The rapid growth of tourism, residential housing and businesses has historically focussed on the natural amenities of Bahia La Ventana. Namely the water, the sandy beaches and the wind.

However, we should not discount the vast array of values and benefits of the open spaces and trails in the hills, mountains and arroyos that surround our Bay. The open spaces and trails are revealing themselves to be of great value to the communities of El Sargento and La Ventana. 

Following is a partial list of those economic benefits:

– Countless studies have shown that maintaining trails and open spaces increase land and home values in a community. They increase the quality of life for residents, and thus they are willing to pay more for land and houses that have these amenities nearby.

– The economies of El Sargento and La Ventana have become very dependent on the seasonal nature of tourism during the windy season. However, as new visitors and returning tourists discover the recreational opportunities of our world class trails, they are staying longer, spending more, returning more often and perhaps more likely to purchase property and houses for vacation and retirement homes.

– The seasonal boom and bust nature of our wind related economy is difficult on local businesses and families. Other recreational pursuits that rely on trails and not the wind, such as Mountain Biking, Hiking and Trail running can ease some of that economic downturn, by helping El Sargento & La Ventana become more of a year round destination.

– Studies have shown that trails and their associated recreational activities can reduce medical costs by encouraging exercise and other healthy activities. Overall health is improved and chronic conditions are lessened.

 – Trails can provide low cost or no cost recreational opportunities to local families relative to other outdoor activities.

– Trails can attract special events and their ensuing economic windfall to the community from participants and spectators. We have already seen this with the recurring SportVision Trail Run and Mountain Bike Races as well as the nationally recognized Don Diablo Trail Run Race.

– These benefits represent a huge economic return on the money invested into trail projects. The costs of land acquisition for trails, trail construction and maintenance are far outweighed by the economic benefits generated by trails.

– There is also benefit to future generations in preserving these lands and their trails. Once the recreational opportunities they provide, and the subsequent economic and health benefits they afford are lost to development and privatization, they are unfortunately lost forever.