Landscapes, memories and water: Narratives, perceptions and policy-making on land and water in Monteverde, Costa Rica

This report focuses on situations displayed in (3) and (4), where policy-makers and science fail to take into account people's sets of perceptions and the particular history of a region. The report draws on evidence from the Monteverde area in Costa Rica, where a large study is currently being conducted to determine the links between cloud forest and water flows, as well as the socio-economic impacts and market opportunities associated with changes in land use. While the combination of both studies will provide important base information to inform a possible negotiation system among stakeholders downstream and upstream to improve watershed management, it remains unclear what their own perceptions are when it comes to understanding relations between land use and water, and what are the main drivers of land use changes according to local history.