"It's an exchange. We have nature, while some people in the world don't. They come to see our nature and share their experiences from elsewhere. In return, we show them how we live and what food we eat. The best food is organic; it enables us to live longer."
As we are reaching the Scui River, its cool waters refresh our heated skin and welcome us with the natural music of the surrounding forest. We have arrived at the Stibrawpa Association in the community of Yorkin, which is part of the Bribri Indigenous Territory in Costa Rica, situated in the Binational Sixaola River Basin. Even though the sun is shining brightly today, the lush green forest of Yorkin, protected by the women of Stibrawpa, acts as a green lung and cools the surroundings. As we take in the beautiful scenery, our bodies yearn for a dive in the crystal-clear waters of the Scui.
Maybe later, now we have work to do. Stibrawpa carries on actions to reforest, maintain its tree nursery, educate the youth, and amplify a message that began in 1992.
“We started with three main goals: economy, forest protection, and strengthening of the Bribri culture. In 1962, the government prohibited the Bribri language. They told us we weren’t civilized, that to be civilized, we had to speak Spanish. Later, we understood that wasn’t true!”
Recalls Bernarda Morales, president and co-founder of Stibrawpa.
Stibrawpa means “artisans” in the Bribri language. The Bribri language is one of the four indigenous languages spoken in the Sixaola Basin. The organization has about 50 associates, mostly women, and offers ecotourism activities in Yorkín, such as river bathing and hiking. Visitors can also have lessons into the ancestral ways of producing chocolate – sacred cacao –and dive into the Bribri ways, from healthy organic food to a sane relationship with the land.
“Children were not aware of our worldview, so they didn’t value the forests. Some kids killed animals just to kill them. People said it was not possible to rescue the language, the culture, the food. They told us, ‘You are out of your minds! Nobody’s going to speak this language again!”
Morales recalls.
The restoration of the Bribri culture in Yorkin was a long dream filled with hope and power. Bernarda studied in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, where she saw the native culture in museums. She was then inspired by the possibility of Bribri youth having the means and tools to return to their territory and defend their treasures.
In the past, the cocoa plant was the driving force behind a thriving production in Talamanca, a Costa Rican canton, where most of the Sixaola Basin is located. The Bribri and other local people have been the masters of cacao. However, their economy suffered gravely due to monilia, the frosty pod rot disease caused by a fungus. The impact forced many to seek jobs elsewhere, mainly in the banana industry. Unfortunately, this industry is a monoculture that heavily relies on pesticides and has dominated the scene in Sixaola, with terrible consequences of contamination and more.
“The chemicals brought us disease, cancer, sterility, and poor nutrition because everything is processed. It wasn’t like here, where you grab something, and it goes into the pot. You don’t have to wait or process the plants; they’re right here. It is one of the most beautiful things we have. It doesn’t give us diseases. What we eat here is medicine for our bodies too”,
explains Bernarda, on the economic transformation and the well-being basis of the Bribri worldview.
Bernarda and the founders of Stibrawpa have always valued their distinctive approach to tourism along the banks of the Scui and Yorkin rivers. Bernarda praises the intelligence and abilities of her community, and, as such, they have joined an educational mission.
In 2008, a flood washed away the trees and everything near the organization. A year later, they began to reforest the area, and now the new trees provide shade and protection.
“Some people still don’t understand why we must reforest; they lost their culture. We must demonstrate”,
the leader insists.
With today’s session, Stibrawpa and the community enriched the forest with high-value species. Today, we planted 150 seedlings of suita, a native plant that the Bribri use to construct house roofs. They will be ready in some years. Together with neighbors, volunteers, children and youth of the Yorkin High School, the plant nursery was equipped with signs and bags where plants will grow.
Stibrawpa is one of the local organizations in the project Towards the Transboundary Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) of the Sixaola River Basin caters to. The project supplies for the tree nursery managed by Stibrawpa and supports their reforestation efforts by providing them with trees that they germinate, grow, produce, and plant.
About the project
Towards the Transboundary Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) of the Sixaola River Basin shared by Costa Rica and Panama is a GEF project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and executed by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OET) of Costa Rica.
Divulgated in communication actions as Proyecto Conectando Comunidades y Ecosistemas (traduced from Spanish as Connecting Communities and Ecosystems), it works with communities and institutions of Costa Rica and Panama to: Strengthen coordinated transboundary action; Set the conditions to achieve real water management; Restore river ecosystems; Reduce risks of disasters by flooding; and Collaborate in the reduction of the excessive agrochemicals use in banana and plantain crops.
For more information, please contact Manuel Sancho Gutiérrez, (manuel.sancho@tropicalstudies.org), and visit the project page on iwlearn.net.
© 2026 IW:LEARN
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