Land Intelligence Report
La Fortuna, San Carlos, Alajuela Province
100 ha · 10.4717, -84.6444 · Workable land — the plan must come before the capital.
The reading in full
This 100-hectare parcel near La Fortuna, San Carlos, Alajuela Province is workable land whose plan must come before the capital. It scores 45 out of 100 on the Dear Wise Earth Land Score.
The risks that most shape a decision here: This area is highly exposed to projected climate change by 2050. Large shifts in temperature and rainfall can change what the land can support, so any plan should be built around the projected conditions, not current ones.
Where the upside lies: A watercourse runs through the parcel. On-site water supports irrigation, livestock, and habitat and can lower water-supply costs — though it may carry buffer or setback rules worth checking.
The wider readings: Rainfall is very high. Abundant water supports productive growth but raises the risk of flooding, waterlogging, and nutrient leaching, so drainage and slope matter. Rainfall has also been rising, which can bring more intense wet seasons; plan drainage accordingly. The land is flat. Flat ground is easy to build on, farm, and mechanize, though low flat land can drain poorly and should be checked for waterlogging. The area has a rich record of documented wildlife. High biodiversity adds conservation value, may bring species-protection rules, and can support eco-tourism or habitat-credit programs. Soil organic carbon is moderate. The soil is workable but will benefit from cover cropping and organic inputs to build fertility before intensive use. Road and town access are close. Good access lowers development and logistics costs but can raise encroachment pressure and land prices. Official Costa Rican record places this in La Fortuna, San Carlos, Alajuela. National cadastral and administrative data ground the parcel in the legal record — the basis for title, permitting, and tax diligence.
What the land is telling us: Read across the record, the land reads as stable to regenerating: the core cover and water signals are holding, which means the work is to build on a sound base rather than to reverse a decline. Of the land's core processes, the water cycle reads as adequate to abundant, so the question is less supply than how well the land captures and holds what falls and community dynamics look rich, with a deep record of documented life nearby. What orbit cannot see is what happens below the surface — soil biology, structure, and the carbon held in the ground — so treat those as the first things to confirm underfoot. Taken together, this is workable land whose plan must come before the capital. Its clearest strength to build from is that a watercourse runs through the parcel.
Workable land — the plan must come before the capital.
La Fortuna, San Carlos, Alajuela Province
Five readings
The parcel from orbit
Finding the latest clear satellite pass…
Reading the place
This 100-hectare parcel near La Fortuna, San Carlos, Alajuela Province is workable land whose plan must come before the capital, scoring 45 out of 100. The reading that most shapes the work here is that this area is highly exposed to projected climate change by 2050. Its main strength is that a watercourse runs through the parcel. The first move: design to the 2050 climate projections rather than today's conditions.
This area is highly exposed to projected climate change by 2050.
Large shifts in temperature and rainfall can change what the land can support, so any plan should be built around the projected conditions, not current ones.
Projected change by 2050: +0.9 °C mean temperature, -28.8% rainfall. Exposure rated High.
A watercourse runs through the parcel.
On-site water supports irrigation, livestock, and habitat and can lower water-supply costs — though it may carry buffer or setback rules worth checking.
A mapped river or stream crosses the parcel (Quebrada Habana).
Rainfall is very high.
Abundant water supports productive growth but raises the risk of flooding, waterlogging, and nutrient leaching, so drainage and slope matter. Rainfall has also been rising, which can bring more intense wet seasons; plan drainage accordingly.
3,720 mm of rain per year. A watercourse crosses the parcel. Up about 100% over 20 years.
The land is flat.
Flat ground is easy to build on, farm, and mechanize, though low flat land can drain poorly and should be checked for waterlogging.
Mean elevation 253 m, mean slope 2°, 32 m of relief.
The area has a rich record of documented wildlife.
High biodiversity adds conservation value, may bring species-protection rules, and can support eco-tourism or habitat-credit programs.
35,224 biodiversity records nearby, including Quiscalus mexicanus and Pitangus sulphuratus (GBIF).
Soil organic carbon is moderate.
The soil is workable but will benefit from cover cropping and organic inputs to build fertility before intensive use.
28.7 g/kg soil organic carbon in the top 30 cm, clay loam texture, pH 5.5 (ISRIC SoilGrids).
Road and town access are close.
Good access lowers development and logistics costs but can raise encroachment pressure and land prices.
About 0.04 km to the nearest road, 0 km to La Fortuna.
Official Costa Rican record places this in La Fortuna, San Carlos, Alajuela.
National cadastral and administrative data ground the parcel in the legal record — the basis for title, permitting, and tax diligence.
Jurisdiction: La Fortuna, San Carlos, Alajuela. Source: SNIT.
Confidence reflects the data behind each reading: high when clear passes or strong sources agree, medium on a partial or single-source signal, low where the data is sparse or indirect. A low-confidence reading usually needs one more clear pass, or a check on the ground.
What the land is telling us
Read across the record, the land reads as stable to regenerating: the core cover and water signals are holding, which means the work is to build on a sound base rather than to reverse a decline.
Of the land's core processes, the water cycle reads as adequate to abundant, so the question is less supply than how well the land captures and holds what falls and community dynamics look rich, with a deep record of documented life nearby. What orbit cannot see is what happens below the surface — soil biology, structure, and the carbon held in the ground — so treat those as the first things to confirm underfoot.
Taken together, this is workable land whose plan must come before the capital. Its clearest strength to build from is that a watercourse runs through the parcel.
Best-fit regenerative model
Regenerative village
48/100 fitA community sited on the working matrix.
Larger, accessible, and buildable near existing settlement, this matrix land has room for a regenerative community that keeps the habitat edges intact and restores the rest.
Larger, accessible, buildable land near existing settlement — room for a regenerative community that leaves the habitat edges intact and restores the rest.
Also consider · Watershed protection (43) · Regenerative agroforestry estate (40)
A published, rules-based suggestion read from the parcel's own indicators — forest, water, slope, access, and its place in the network. It names the shape of project the land is already set up to carry; confirm it against tenure, soils, and what you know from the ground.
What to do
- 01
Design to the 2050 climate projections rather than today's conditions.
First yearThe land is strongly exposed to projected change, so species, water storage, and infrastructure should be chosen for the conditions ahead.
Confirm on the ground · Cross-check the projections against the memory of long-time residents on how the seasons have already shifted here.
- 02
Confirm tenure and boundaries against the legal record before relying on this reading.
Before committingThe satellite record cannot see title, easements, or where the legal boundary actually runs — the things that govern what you can do here.
Confirm on the ground · Pull the title and cadastral record, and walk the boundary against it on the ground.
- 03
Confirm soil and water on the ground, then design to what the land can carry.
First visitThe land is workable, but the plan has to be built to its limits rather than around a hoped-for use.
Confirm on the ground · Ground-truth the key constraints before committing to a use, then size the plan to them.
Questions to sit with
- If the seasons here shift as the models expect, which of your intentions for the land still hold — and which need rethinking now?
- Are you here to hold this land as it is, to work it, or to help it change — and does the reading above serve that intention?
- If the work succeeds, what do the water, the canopy, and the people around this land look like a generation from now — and what is the first condition that has to change for that to begin?
- Where does this reading disagree with what you have seen walking the land? That disagreement is the first thing to check on the ground.
These are not data gaps — they are the questions the data cannot answer.
Reading the land's record…
Climate · to 2050
Exposure · High
2050 sits within a single planning horizon — about 24 years out. The models expect seasons here about 0.9°C warmerthan today's, with 29% less rain. Expect is the honest verb: this is the middle of a range of futures, not a certainty — so design to the range, not to today.
Water
Quebrada Habana · Quebrada Cacao · Río Burrito · Río Fortuna
Soil · 0–30 cm
Clay loam
Terrain & cover
Ecology
Quiscalus mexicanus · Pitangus sulphuratus · Turdus grayi · Thraupis episcopus
Pressure
Forest history · since 2000
Hansen Global Forest Change GFC-2023-v1.11
Costa Rica land record
SNIT Costa Rica (IGN / IDECORI) · official national data — verify title & permits locally
Talk it through with Gregorio
This reading is built from satellite and open data. It cannot see soil biology, legal tenure, or what you already know from walking the land — a 30-minute call tests the reading against the ground and sequences the work. No cost, no obligation.
Sources & method · 10 layers→
Overpass (waterways, highways, places, protected areas)
Occurrence records (count + top species)
Administrative units, cadastral parcels, agrological land-capability, protected areas, Holdridge life zones (WFS)
Nominatim reverse geocode
Terrarium elevation tiles
Archive 2004–2024 + MPI-ESM1-2-XR to 2050
SoilGrids v2.0 (SOC, pH, sand, clay; 0–30 cm)
WorldCover 2021 v200
Global Surface Water v1.4 — occurrence & seasonality
Global Forest Change (tree cover 2000 + annual loss)
Every number above is public, open data — named, dated, and licensed. What TERRA does not publish is the lens: the weights, curves, and verdict thresholds that turn these layers into a Land Score. That judgment is calibrated from land walked on the ground, and it stays proprietary.
Unavailable for this parcel: sentinel2_ndvi, sentinel1_rtc, worldbank_wgi, landsat_lst — the affected pillars were reweighted, not guessed.
Generated Thu, 23 Jul 2026 06:24:38 GMT · 9.7s · synthesized by TERRA.
Generated Thu, 23 Jul 2026 06:24:38 GMT · synthesized by TERRA · Dear Wise Earth.