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The Secret to Saving Costa Rica’s Rainforest ⋆ The Costa Rica News
Planting a tree is just the first step; the real challenge is ensuring it survives until the canopy closes. Jennifer Leigh Smith, founder of , knows this all too well. Leading a team of up to 33 people, her organization has perfected a forest management model where pruning and post-planting care take center stage. Today, her efforts aim to scale up to large-scale water projects, demonstrating that regeneration is, above all, a financial and time commitment.
Jennifer grew up in Louisiana, where she earned her J.D. from Louisiana State University in 1993. After practicing law for seven years in Louisiana, she decided to leave the legal profession and become more directly involved in her personal mission to help mitigate environmental problems, including climate change.
For 27 years, she has been willing to provide details about the Community Carbon Tree Association (CCTAA) model in Costa Rica and to give presentations on climate change. Her specialty is social, economic, and environmental justice through sustainable and collaborative tree planting.
ACCT was founded in 2009 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to socially responsible reforestation. The ACCT model generates benefits by striking a balance between society, the economy, and the environment.
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In 2019, when we first spoke with Jennifer, she told us that ACCT’s work teams, made up of local women, were continuing to care for the young trees in the forest, which includes at least three supervised visits per year for maintenance and cleaning. The trees are properly established to ensure a long and fruitful life, as well as maximum carbon sequestration.
Fifteen years after her organization was founded, her voice conveys the satisfaction of someone who has watched both the trees and her own identity flourish in the tropics.
For Jennifer, the 15th anniversary is not a milestone for resting on her laurels, but a reminder of the complexity of her mission. Her daily routine is a mosaic of roles: one moment she is designing the blueprint for a new project, the next she is talking with farm owners, collecting seeds under the sun, or leading educational workshops for schoolchildren and tourists.
“We are truly committed as we move forward,” she said. The effort has yielded tangible results: the past year has been one of the most successful in the organization’s history, with 6,000 trees sponsored. In addition, Smith has launched a magazine dedicated to raising awareness about the planting sites and the urgent need to bring the rainforest back to life.
But beyond the reforestation figures, this year marks a profound personal milestone for Jennifer. After living in Costa Rica since 1998, she has finally completed her naturalization process. Today, she is officially a Costa Rican citizen.
“I feel great to be able to vote and be even more committed to my second home. I’ve been a resident all this time, and I feel honored by how much I’ve learned. It’s been difficult, but at the same time absolutely beautiful,” she said. For her, these 27 years in the country aren’t just time that has passed, but a process of putting down deep roots.
The Balance between Carbon and Spirit
Jennifer Smith is not just an environmental manager; she is a woman who understands sustainability from a holistic perspective. Amid her many responsibilities, she finds time to continue teaching Kundalini Yoga, a practice she integrates into her role as a mentor to young people and entrepreneurs.
Through her mentorship, she teaches that there are two paths to healing the world: offsetting one’s carbon footprint to give something back to nature, and the yogic paths to finding inner balance.
These days, she says she’s “still doing the same old thing, but busier.” That busyness stems from the certainty that tomorrow the world will be a little greener.
The reforestation goal
Jennifer’s goal has always been to plant, protect, and care for 1,000,000 trees. “So far, we’ve planted over 640,000 trees on our way to reaching one million.”
In her view, success isn’t just a matter of planting statistics. Her work encompasses community unity, his own personal projects, and the everyday act of giving life to her neighbors. In her view, no stopwatch matters. “There is no deadline for our goal of one million trees; planting is merely the first beat of a longer symphony.” Her obsession and greatest source of pride is monitoring.
At Community Carbon Trees, a tree isn’t counted unless it survives past the critical five-year threshold. It’s a commitment to care that includes strategic canopy pruning to ensure light continues to nourish the soil as the forest closes in.
“Our monitoring efforts are what we’re most proud of, because we’re growing something so large that it already looks natural,” Jennifer explained.
Looking Back
As she reflects on the past, Jennifer’s tone becomes contemplative, almost poetic. She describes returning to old projects with a mix of humility and wonder. “I’ve watched what used to be a grassland turn into an area with tall trees, animals, birds, fruits, and medicinal plants. I’ve seen every shade of green regenerate,” she said.
That greenery isn’t just for looks; it’s functional. The shade has brought coolness, and with it, the return of water. The local ecosystem has regained its balance, proving that regeneration is possible if you tackle one project after another with patience and scientific rigor.
Today, Jennifer Smith’s vision is more ambitious. Her focus is on water, seeking larger-scale projects that will secure water resources for future generations. She already has the experience, has identified the projects, and has won over the community.
However, the story of this expanding forest faces its own challenge. “All we need now is funding. The path to a million trees is no longer a matter of will, but of resources so that the miracle of greenery does not stop.”
A Human Ecosystem
The organization is not a static entity; it adapts to the seasons and available funding. Last year, Jennifer had as many as 33 people on the team, “but in the summer we adjust based on funding. Currently, a core group of about 22 people sustains the project, supported by a diverse structure: from a highly active women’s group to tree ambassadors and an accounting team that understands that financial transparency is what allows a grassroots organization to survive.”
There is a group of children and teenagers who participate in educational programs and, in exchange for a financial incentive, serve as ecotourism guides at the nurseries. It’s a generational transition in progress.
Jennifer’s pride and joy this year is called Refugio San Antonio. This project, linked to the Ministry of Peace and Justice, is shaping up to be the largest reforestation effort in the southern region’s largest expanse of rainforest.
“We’re working with the communities along the Diamante River and with the Biorregional Council we’ve formed here,” she said. Through this initiative, Jennifer has achieved what seems impossible in these divisive times: bringing together Costa Ricans, foreigners, activists, and local residents who are concerned about a dwindling resource: water.
The Tree’s Lesson
Running an operation of this scale—which includes trucks, full-time nursery staff, administration, and an online presence—doesn’t rely on big corporations, but on people. Under the motto “It’s a Journey to Life,” the organization is sustained by grassroots volunteers and monthly donors who, with as little as $25, help cover basic salaries. “It’s a great group of people with many helping hands surrounding us,” added Leigh Smith.
After years of activism, Jennifer has found her own balance. She has set aside the frantic rush to embrace the rhythms of nature.
“I’m learning to be like a tree—to have moments of dormancy, of no growth, when I simply withdraw, recalibrate, and grow stronger,” she said. This wisdom allows her today to tackle complex challenges such as gentrification in Costa Rica. As a lawyer, she never loses sight of the fact that human interaction with the forest is the key to preventing deforestation.
For Jennifer, it’s not just about planting trees, but about leaving a social legacy where the forest and the community grow in step, ensuring that future generations inherit a healthier land than the one she found.
As the interview wraps up, it’s clear that Jennifer has no plans to slow down. Between ecotourism, fundraising, and community engagement, her life is a testament to the fact that protecting the planet is, above all, an act of love and daily perseverance.
If you’d like to learn more about the wonderful work Jennifer Leigh Smith is doing through Community Carbon Trees, visit their website at and follow them on social media: Instagram @communitycarbontreescostarica @treejenny; on Facebook, you can find them as Community Carbon Trees Costa Rica, Jennifer Smith.
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