Pierella Ecological Garden’s Start
Pierella Ecological Gardens was founded in 1995 by William Camacho on a 20m x 20m patch of farmland he was able to purchase. After buying this small parcel, he had to decide how to use it; raise cash crops like pineapples or bananas, or, raise cattle like most others at that time. Instead, he wanted to do something for the environment; he would dedicate the land to developing a natural butterfly garden and restoring it back to native flora. He started raising the iconic Blue Morpho butterfly. He sold the chrysalis to the Costa Rican Entomological Supply (CRES), which in turn is licensed to export the pupae to butterfly gardens and zoos all over the globe (134 countries).
He was the 19th butterfly garden certified by the Costa Rican government and one of the first to use sustainable methods. His operation is certified by the Costa Rican government and is inspected and recertified quarterly.
He has continuously reinvested the money from this sustainable work, incrementally purchasing more farmland over the intervening 25 years, and turning it from the 20m x 20m patch of grass that it was, into 3 hectares of lush rainforest that it is today. Today he and his wife (Kristal) continue to sustainably raise butterflies and augment the operating funds with educational tours and eco-tourism.
PRFRP and Pierella Ecological Garden
It was Bill Cooper’s visit to PEG that was the catalyst for the creation of PRFRP. Bill spent a short time visiting William and Kristal and fell in love with what William had built. He came back for longer and longer stays, learning more about the transformation of pasture into second growth rainforest, sustainably raising butterflies, and ecotourism in Costa Rica. In his months of time over multiple visits to PEG, he captured huge amounts of amazing high-definition video, and spent his time stateside editing and creating the content for his extensive YouTube channel.
Since then, many of the volunteers at PRFRP have stayed at PEG and caught the same passion that almost everyone who visits there develops. William’s enthusiasm for his forest and the plants and creatures there is almost irresistible, and few who visit leave without learning a great deal, including a love of this work.
We will continue our collaboration with PEG, and plan for our first plots to be contiguous with PEG, creating a larger space for the plants and animals (which happily ignore property boundaries) and allowing us to bring William’s expertise and experience as a resource for our initial work. We plan to use William as a consultant to our work as we expand into other areas and reclaim other properties.
Pierella Raises Butterflies for Export
Now William’s butterflies are exported to butterfly gardens and zoos all over the globe. Chances are pretty good that if you have visited a zoo or butterfly garden that has butterflies from Costa Rica, that you have seen one of the butterflies William raised. His operation is certified by the Costa Rican government and is inspected and re-certified quarterly. He has an outstanding relationship with the government and recently PEG’s license was expanded to allow William to raise 69 different species of butterflies for export all over the world..
Expanded Rainforest, Education and Ecotourism
William has continuously reinvested the money from this sustainable work, incrementally purchasing more farmland and turning it from a small patch into the 3 hectares of lush secondary growth rainforest it is today. This small rainforest “island” is now home to dozens of indigenous species, from the 70+ identified species of birds, to the recently spotted Ocelot (which is not long off the endangered list). Troops of Black Howler monkeys regularly migrate through this wildlife corridor. A recent visit by a group of bat enthusiasts positively identified seven species of bats and believe that there may be as many as 20 species at Pierella. Another favorite for tourists is the resident populations of 2-toed and 3-toed sloths!
William also has a longstanding working relationship with the primary government sanctioned global exporter of butterflies (Costa Rica Entomological Supply). Sergio Stiles, the managing director is both an advocate for and friend of Pierella.
Habitat for Rainforest Birds, Bats, Monkeys and More
This small oasis in the expanding clearcut of Costa Rican land is now home to dozens of native species, from the 50+ identified bird species to the recently spotted ocelot. Troops of monkeys regularly migrate through this wildlife corridor.
Recently, a group of bat enthusiasts positively identified seven species of bats. These bat experts believe that there may be as many as 20 species in this small preserve. Pierella is also home to a thriving population of rare White Honduran Bats. This species is extremely popular and draws many tours from Japan. Pierella Ecological Garden has a strong ongoing partnership with Goyi, a Japanese eco-tourism company.
