To sustain the delicate balance between man and his environment, it is almost always necessary to take a few steps back in time, to revert to old methods of farming and production or even to re-introduce traditional produce and handicrafts. German biologist Dr. Dagmar Werner's pioneering iguana farming project is sustainable conservation at its best. Throughout Central America, iguanas have been regarded as finger-lickin' good since time immemorial. So Dagmar Werner is doing the only sensible thing and increasing supply. Her Green Iguana Foundation aims to increase the iguana population through a protected breeding program then encourage people to farm them.
Iguanas are easier to farm than cattle.
They don't wander off and need no fencing, they yield more than 10 times the amount of meat per hectare, need a minimal amount of attention and, most importantly, don't require a huge area of deforested land to graze and reduce rapidly to dust. Quite the reverse. To raise iguanas, farmers need to protect their existing forested areas and also reforest cattle pastures with the sort of native trees that iguanas like best. The project restores the iguana population. It provides Costa Ricans with an ample supply of product they like.