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Meet Javier Mateo-Vega, Rainforest Conservationist in Costa Rica

Living the Dream: A Biography

Although Javier was born in Costa Rica, he was raised in nine countries on five continents around the world, including France, India and the United States. While growing up in so many countries exposed him to a wealth of diverse cultures and environments, from as far back as he could remember he dreamed of one day returning to Costa Rica and dedicating his life to preserving his country’s incredibly rich natural heritage.

Today, as director of The Nature Conservancy’s Osa Peninsula Site Program in Costa Rica, he finds himself living his childhood dream every day.

Currently, Javier is leading the Conservancy’s effort to protect the remote paradise of the Osa Peninsula, 250,000 acres of land that jut into the Pacific Ocean and are home to the country's largest population of scarlet macaws, 52 species of nocturnal bats, large cats such as jaguar and puma and four species of monkeys, including howlers and white-faced capuchins.

He is an active part of the Osa Campaign, a collaborative effort by The Nature Conservancy, the government of Costa Rica and several local and international conservation organizations dedicated to conserving the Osa’s abundant diversity of plants and animals.

Prior to joining the Conservancy in 2003, Javier spent several years at the Organization for Tropical Studies in San José, Costa Rica where he coordinated the Environmental Science and Policy Program. Earlier in his career, Javier conducted research for the University of Costa Rica on coral reefs in a region off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast that is home to large numbers of bull sharks, an aggressive species that is the only type of shark known to spend extended periods of time in freshwater.

Javier has authored several published works on conservation issues in both English and Spanish, and teaches a graduate-level course at The University for Peace, a treaty organization established under the United Nations.

Javier Mateo: The Education of a Rainforest Conservationist

• 1999: Master of Arts in Geography, emphasis on Environment and Resources Management
  University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
• 1997: Bachelor of Science in Geography with Distinction
  University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Learn More About Costa Rica and Rainforest Conservation:

• Where We Work: The Nature Conservancy in Costa Rica
  Costa Rica is known as a leader of the environmental movement and a pioneer of ecotourism in Central America. The Nature Conservancy is working with Costa Rica's leading environmental organizations to protect the country's rich natural heritage.
• Online Field Guide: Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
  Twenty-five years after its first national park was created here, the Osa Peninsula – a remote paradise harboring a diversity of habitats and biological richness – remains Costa Rica's last wild frontier.
• Adopt an Acre®: Save the Atlantic Forest of Brazil
  You can help save the rainforest! Help us protect the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, one of the world’s most diverse and fragile rainforests.
• Great Places Network: Join today and receive free member benefits!
  Join a global community of friends and neighbors committed to working together to ensure the diversity of life on Earth for generations to come.
• Tropical and Temperate Rainforests
  Wild and wondrous, rainforests extend from as far as Alaska and Canada to Latin America, Asia and Africa. They nurture thousands of rainforest animals and plants found nowhere else on Earth and provide life's essentials such as our medicines, food and water.