GANBOS: Building Resilient Farms and Forests in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica’s cattle country, farmers face a tough reality. Years of overgrazing have left soils compacted, rivers stressed, and pastures struggling. For many families, selling the farm has been the only option - often driven by cashflow rather than choice.

It’s a local reflection of a global challenge. As much as 75% of the world’s soils are already degraded (UNESCO), and one-third of land is at risk of desertification (UNCCD).

The Ganadería y Bosques (GANBOS) project - literally “livestock and forest” - is showing how things can be done differently.

Farming and forests side by side

GANBOS is working across 30,000 hectares in Costa Rica’s Chorotega and Brunca regions, linking native reforestation with improved farming practices such as rotational grazing. By making pastures more productive and resilient, farmers can set aside land for trees while still protecting their livelihoods. The project is now scaling up and demonstrating how farming and forests can grow together rather than compete.

The partnership is led by rePLANET, which unlocks private finance to restore nature globally. Through GANBOS, farmers are receiving the tools, infrastructure and support they need for both short-term security and long-term resilience.

“GANBOS is an investment in families, rivers and soils,” says the project’s director in Costa Rica, Javier Artiñano. “Farmers can see and touch the benefits on their own land.”

Building trust with farmers

The challenge is as much about people as it is about land.

“Trust is crucial,” says Javier. “For years, farmers have been promised solutions, and they have rarely come through. When the project started, many farmers stood back and watched to see how their neighbours would perceive the project. When key and influential ‘ganaderos’ in communities across the region signed up and started receiving good equipment and technical experts to improve management of their farms, trust and belief in the project grew.”

GANBOS removes the biggest barrier of all: upfront cost. Farmers set aside part of their land for 7,500 hectares of reforestation, especially along rivers to create wildlife corridors and improve water supply. In return, the project funds farmers’ shift to rotational grazing across the remaining 22,500 hectares. The funding covers fencing, water systems, and hands-on training so farmers have the knowledge and infrastructure to succeed.

“It’s difficult to ask a farmer to take a significant financial gamble on a system they haven’t used in the past,” says rePLANET’s Senior Operations Manager Phoenix Davies. “We finance the change upfront as part of the relationship. That way, we can remove barriers for farmers to access the project and see it working on their farms and neighbouring farms. Then the income from carbon credits comes through to cover the cost of implementation, with the farmer also receiving the majority share of profit from the credits generated on their land.”

Flipping the grazing cycle

For generations, cattle in Costa Rica have been run under an extensive model. For example, only one animal per hectare across vast 200-hectare paddocks. The result, Javier says, has been ‘super inefficient management’ - compacted soils, shallow roots, and pastures that steadily decline. Without rest periods, roots remain shallow, moisture is lost, and compaction prevents water from soaking in. “It’s a vicious cycle,” he says.

Rotational grazing flips that cycle: smaller paddocks, rest periods and deeper roots lead to healthier soils, better water infiltration, and more resilient pastures.

“One farmer told me he used to spend tens of thousands of dollars on hay every dry season,” says Phoenix. “After two or three years of rotational grazing, he didn’t have to buy in any feed. That turned the farm from scraping by, into a business that was profitable and more stable to pass down to his children.”

Stories like this are becoming common. With no fertiliser or irrigation, degraded land is greening again - proof that regenerative management and smart infrastructure can reverse decades of damage.

Making grazing work on the ground

To make rotational grazing possible, infrastructure is key. Gallagher supplies fencing solutions, from energizers and wire to insulators and strainers, through its Costa Rican distributor, Via Agro. Farmers receive everything they need to make the transition to rotational grazing through the project, along with technical support.

“Farmers wanted to know what we were going to put across their land. We reassured them by choosing Gallagher - equipment we knew was durable, proven, and built to last. That reliability, backed by local support and long-term supply chains, helped us give farmers more confidence,” says Phoenix.

Water is just as critical. Many farms had rudimentary systems, often laid out without regard to flow or pressure. GANBOS brings in specialists to design efficient setups of pumps, pipes, tanks and troughs so cattle always have reliable access to water.

“When farmers see a specialist who speaks their language, showing them a system that actually works, it’s powerful,” Javier says.

Long-term impact for farms and forests

Over the long term, the impact of GANBOS will be measured not just in healthier pastures but in forests restored. The project will re-establish thousands of hectares of mixed native species, using rePLANET’s accelerator approach, which involves planting fast-growing pioneers that create shade for mid- and late-succession trees to thrive. Combined with soil carbon gains from grazing, the project is expected to remove more than 5 million tonnes of CO₂ over 40 years.

The benefits also extend beyond the farm gate. Farmers receive a per-hectare income for the land they set aside for forest and a guaranteed minimum payment for their credits. On top of that, they keep 60% of the revenue from carbon credits sold on the open market.

rePLANET commits that at least 60% of total project revenues flow to local stakeholders, with carbon payments being channelled through a Sustainable Business and Livelihood Fund (SBLF). This fund supports on farm investment, alternative sustainable businesses and has the potential to increase the reach of the project by generating new and additional employment and income opportunities in the project region.

“The biggest urgency for farmers is lack of cash flow,” Javier says. “Rotational grazing quickly increases profitability, while the reforestation and carbon credits bring mid- to long-term benefits. That combination is what makes GANBOS unique.”

Making a difference

For Phoenix, the project is deeply personal. “You can live a normal life, or you can have an impact. Nothing else really matters unless you wake up and know you’re doing something that’s going to make a difference.”

For Javier, as a born and bred Costa Rican, it’s about love of place. “This aligns completely with why I studied agriculture and my love for my country. It shows that agriculture here can have a future that is both productive and sustainable.”

GANBOS is expanding across Guanacaste and into Brunca next year, with ambitions to replicate the model across Latin America.

“This project will protect farmers’ livelihoods, biodiversity and food security,” says Phoenix. “And if others copy it, even better! It means more projects, more trust, and greater impact. Better farms mean healthier forests, and healthier forests mean better farms.”

GANBOS at a glance

• 30,000 hectares restored (22,500 in rotational grazing, 7,500 in reforestation)
• 5+ million tonnes CO₂ removed over 40 years
• Farm benefits: herd size maintained or increased, cashflow improved, training and equipment free of charge, carbon credit revenue share
• Community benefits: 60% of income to local stakeholders; Sustainable Business and Livelihoods Fund
• Gallagher’s role: fencing systems supplied via Via Agro; chosen for quality, reliability, and global capability.
• For more information visit https://www.ganbos-costarica.com/

If you are a ganadero in Costa Rica and would like to register your interest in the programme, click here.