Manglar Centers is an environmental hub created to support community-based initiatives in expanding their impact beyond borders through a replicable laboratory structure.

We provide digital infrastructure and strategic support to environmental groups, helping them strengthen their organization, communicate their work clearly, and connect with international audiences.

Our current associated program is Grupo Ecologista Avellanas (GEA), an active initiative focused on conservation, environmental education, and community-led environmental action. All donations collected through Manglar Centers are fully allocated to support GEA and its on-the-ground work.

Manglar Centers connects and amplifies community impact initiatives.

In 2016, Grupo Ecologista Avellanas GEA emerged, thanks to the community work of 8 members and different collaborators, residents of the Playa Avellanas area who share the conservationist sentiment of our ecology.

During the last 7 years, the group has carried out beach cleaning and mangrove restoration activities together with national and international volunteers, each year 8 kilometers of coast are patrolled such as Playa Avellanas, Playa Callejones, Playa Negra, Punta Pargos, among others located in the region of Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, districts 27 de Abril and Tamarindo.

In 2023 GEA became an official association and joined to collaborate with Manglar Center, an initiative that aims to involve the present generations in research and restoration actions to protect coastal ecosystems, promote knowledge on nature-based solutions through people from all over the world who want to learn and apply their knowledge by participating in experiential workshops on mangroves that store approximately 50% of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity. Likewise, participants have the opportunity to exchange with local students, share their life stories, and learn about the culture of Costa Rica.

“Manglar Center GEA” offers a complete cultural and scientific immersion in which participants obtain tools to protect coastal ecosystems and valuable data for great scientific, social, and political relevant studies that contribute to humanity’s search for solutions to stop the climate emergency that affects everyone and all the living beings in the planet.

Mangroves not only protect people from the excess of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but they also serve as barriers to tsunamis and storm surges. By participating in their protection and restoration, people contribute to preventing extreme climate events and support the implementation of ecological solutions in their environments, becoming global leaders for sustainable human development.