High on the slopes of the Turrialba Volcano sits Costa Rica's largest coffee farm, Aquiares Coffee.
The farm devotes 80% of its land to growing high quality coffee and the remaining 20% to conservation. Coffee plots are interlaced with over a dozen natural springs and almost 13 miles of streams, all protected with buffer zones in line with their Rainforest Alliance certification.
The farm and the community are mutually connected. The farm provides services, land, security and honest jobs. In return, the coffee farm has benefited from a well-educated community and relies on highly skilled professionals from its community to continue functioning. Such a level of interdependence has helped contribute to the sense of pride that the people of Aquiares take in community and coffee.