Our History

Back in the 80s, two dreamers, Gordienko brothers Pablo and Andrei bought land that a few years later would come to be Macao Sanctuary. Back then the landscape looked very different than what can be appreciated today. The forest was burnt annually to extend the grasslands, a common agricultural practice of that time. This fragmented the forest and the earth, leaving the ground compacted, eroded and nutrient poor.

The deteriorated terrain needed an urgent change. The forests and the land needed to recover and the soil needed to regenerate. Because of this need, the forest reserve begins to take form. Thousands of trees are planted. Mainly teak (tectona grandis), and gmelina or beechwood (Gmelina arborea), are planted, which two decades later will be used for the construction of Macaw Lodge. All activities developed in the land are focused on inclusiveness of the locals. Employment begins to increase in the communities surrounding the area.

With the desire to continue bettering the quality of the ecosystem and to generate better employment sources, the first agroforestry plantations are installed. These produce food at the same time that they restore plant and animal diversity. The main product of this friendly agricultural system would come to be cacao, the raw material for the future Macaw Kakau chocolates.

Macao Sanctuary continues evolving, becoming it’s own success. The decade of growth begins and we observe our horizons expand. All the efforts from three decades back lead to a continuous increase of production options and economic income, through ecotourism and the manufacture of a product with added value: Macaw Kakau chocolates.

Towards the end of 2019, everything was working perfectly. The sanctuary could not have been in a better state: Macaw Lodge was receiving a thriving amount of tourists that could sustain the private reserve and it’s workers. Makau Kakau was positioned in the Costa Rican market with some exports to USA and Switzerland. The organization was in a growing and stable point such that it proposed to extend it’s efforts of conservation and sustainable production beyond the borders of Macao Sanctuary.

Conscious of the social and environmental problems that are still latent in the biological corridar that we are positioned, we founded the ‘Center for Biodiversity and Restoration, or CBR’. Our mission is to promote and restore the biological diversity, the healthy ecosystems and the wellbeing of the local communities, thinking always of a sustainable future with a socially just economy.