Dec. 14, 2014 - Costa Rica - Living Fences

I was really impressed with the living fences I saw in Costa Rica. Farmers, of course, need fences to keep their livestock enclosed and to protect crop lands. Instead of using manufactured fence posts, they just cut branches from a variety of trees and stick them in the ground. Barbed wire is attached to these branches to make the fence. This is an example of a living fence we saw along the road to Arenal Observatory Lodge.

LivingFenceArenalObservatoryLodgeroad20141019

The great thing about these branches is they take root and start growing! Just think about how much economic and ecological sense that makes. Metal fence posts are expensive; the metal needs to be mined and the posts need to be manufactured. Wooden fence posts require live trees to be cut and then the wood needs to be shaped into posts. They need maintenance and they rot. It’s much easier and cheaper to cut branches off local trees and just put them into the ground.

LivingFenceArenalObservatoryLodgeroad20141019

Living fences make even more sense from an ecological viewpoint. As shown in this photo, they start to grow branches. Livestock can forage on the leaves and the branches eventually provide shade for the livestock. Roots from the living fence posts help stabilize the soil and prevent erosion.

LivingFenceArenalObservatoryLodgeroad20141019

This is a living fence built along the road to Lapa Rios Nature Reserve. As these branches grow into mature trees, they provide food and shelter for pollinators like bees, butterflies, and birds. The Costa Rican government recognizes the benefits of living fences and, at one time, even paid farmers for growing them.

LivingFenceRoadLapaRiosCostaRica20141022

Here’s a mature living fence. This is also along the road to Lapa Rios. As we drove along this road, we found an owl, monkeys, and an anteater in the branches of the trees.

LivingFenceRoadLapaRiosCostaRica20141022