As one of the oldest wildlife monitoring programs in the country, the Jaguar Program continues to expand its investigative trajectory thanks to support from the National University of Costa Rica’s (UNA) International Institute of Wildlife Conservation and Management and private organizations — particularly Böëna Lodges.

UNA’s Jaguar Program began on the Osa Peninsula in the early 1990s. It was spearheaded by renowned researcher and university professor Dr. Eduardo Carillo, who is today considered the “Father of Jaguar Conservation” in Central America.

In 2008, under the tutelage of Dr. Carillo, a young forestry engineer, Carolina Saenz, who was pursuing a master’s degree in wildlife management, was guided to develop her thesis investigation within La Amistad Caribe Conservation Area, including Barbilla National Park, the Nairi Awari Indigenous Territory, Pacuare River Protective Zone, and properties outside the protected wild areas.

Over several decades, much of the land surrounding the Barbilla–Pacuare Sector had been reforested and protected as a nature reserve by the Fernandez family, the original owners of Pacuare Lodge and Böëna founders. With funding and logistical support from UNA and Pacuare Lodge, Dr. Carillo facilitated Carolina Saenz’s thesis investigation, in which camera traps were used to study the types and quantity of terrestrial mammals present in the region.

Because of the study’s success not only in monitoring wildlife activity but in engaging tourists’ interest in participating in the conservation of Costa Rica’s wild areas, in 2010, Pacuare Lodge signed a cooperation agreement with UNA’s Jaguar Program, pledging their continued support.

As Böëna incorporated additional lodges into its portfolio — Lapa Rios on the Osa Peninsula, followed by Monteverde Lodge, Cloud Forest Lodge and Tortuga Lodge — new opportunities emerged to contribute to the program’s nationwide research and conservation efforts.

Biologist and researcher Juan Carlos Cruz plays a lead role in the Jaguar Program’s Osa research and monitoring efforts. With funding and the procurement of camera traps provided by Lapa Rios Lodge, Cruz and his team have expanded the region’s monitoring capacity to include Lapa Rios Nature Reserve, the La Sirena Ranger Station in Corcovado National Park, and the wildland areas between the two.

The Jaguar Program’s nationwide studies are also instrumental in bridging cultural and economic rifts among indigenous groups and local community members who argue that wild felines are a threat to livestock or are more valuable as trophies on the black market.

Through the program’s efforts to spread awareness and communicate the positive economic potential of eco-tourism, the protection of wild felines and other endangered species has gained significant ground.

In 2020, Böëna Lapa Rios signed a cooperation agreement supporting the continuity of the Jaguar Program’s Osa Peninsula research. Camera traps were also installed within the Monteverde Lodge and Cloud Forest Lodge reserves, while Böëna supported UNA student Valerie Solano in conducting a study in the surrounding region.

Böëna also planned to collaborate with the Jaguar Program on research in the Tortuguero National Park region to track feline migrations and populations, extending the monitoring network into another of Costa Rica’s most distinctive ecosystems.

A portion of Böëna’s support for the Jaguar Program comes directly from a one-time Conservation Fee lodge guests pay as part of their stay. The fee is also applied to projects that benefit local communities, environmental education, and other sustainability-oriented initiatives spearheaded around each of Böëna’s five lodges.