THE LIVING LIBRARY - ETHNOBOTANICAL INSTITUTE
  • Home
  • Mission
  • Species
  • Tours
  • Internship
  • Contact
TROPICAL GARDEN AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE
call to action

OUR MISSION

The Living Library Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute houses the broadest ethnobotanical preservation project in Costa Rica. Our aims are to educate, conduct research, and promote a generalized ethic of conservation, land stewardship, and respect for traditional ecological knowledge.  The growing collections at the Living Library benefit from both traditional and scientific management techniques.


Our work involves not only the preservation of native medicinal plants but also the development of natural habitats to support such culturally and ecologically significant species. Our research additionally embraces the advancement of sustainable wild harvesting practices and the cultivation of such medicinal plant species significantly affected by wild over-harvesting.
​​
We strive to rescue, restore, and document the vast cultural knowledge contained within these medicinal plants, whose diversity is threatened by unsustainable practices and widespread environmental degradation. In this regard, it has been our great honor to collaborate with various tribal elders who have shared their wisdom with the Living Library.

​Additional avenues for productive cooperation exist with libraries, herbalists, laboratories, botanical gardens, and university departments. In general, we seek to engage partners who share our interest of promoting public understanding and educating a broad range of target groups, including community leaders, natural health practitioners, students, and anyone else interested in the medicinal and cultural uses of these increasingly rare ethnopharmacological treasures. 

​It is our hope that the mission of the Living Library will ultimately inspire and empower others to help secure plant diversity for the well-being of the planet and the people  who inhabit it.

THE SPECIES WE PRESERVE

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
LEARN MORE

ETHNOBOTANIC TOURS

Picture
​The Living Library is a space for breathing and freedom that offers shelter to a wide variety of plants with valuable properties for humans for nutritional, mystical and therapeutic purposes. It is also a place of discovery and learning in contact with a preserved nature.​
​
We offer an exclusive educational tour so you can get to know a unique collection of medicinal and entheogenic plants in Costa Rica. We receive groups of people interested in touring the garden and learning about the plants we preserve.

Picture
Duration: 4 hours ​+ Lunch or ​Refreshment
Picture
​Available days: Monday to Saturday 
Picture
​Schedule: 7:00am to 5:00pm
Picture
Transportation: Ask for availability
Picture
Language: English, Spanish

INTERNSHIP AVAILABLE

 Open the door to the sound of the forest
Picture

OUR OFFERINGS

  • Lodging on our permaculture farm  within an eco-community
  • Organic farm to table meals
  • Regenerative ecology in practice
  • Indepth interview of a curriculum of ethnobotanical knowledge concerning medicinal and entheogenic plants
  • Opportunity to participate in private events held during your stay.​​
  • Project leadership roles available according to personal development
  • Walking distance from rivers and waterfalls, 30 min drive beach
Picture

   WE WOULD BE HONORED TO RECEIVE

  • People with a profound understanding to our mission and an open heart ready to give and recieve
  • Those not afraid to work hard and get dirty for 5 days a week, 6 hours per day
  • Available to commit for minimum 1 month
  • Contribution of $450

Contact Us

Submit
  • Home
  • Mission
  • Species
  • Tours
  • Internship
  • Contact