Rebecca Cliffe is a British nature conservationist dedicated to protecting sloths and their tropical forest habitat in Costa Rica. She moved across the world to work together with local communities to understand more about the elusive lives of these slow, charismatic creatures.
Background
When Rebecca first started working with sloths over fifteen years ago, very little was known about these unique mammals, yet rescue centres across Central and South America often received them into their care. Rebecca committed herself to finding out more about these tree-dwellers and embarked on a long-term field study to learn more about wild sloths in Costa Rica. For six years, she trekked through the dense tropical forests in search of the sloths, which are hard to find due to their slow nature and impressive camouflage. Rebecca persevered and her study provided important insights into the lives of sloths in Costa Rica.
With the newly acquired knowledge she developed the first ever sloth rehabilitation and reintroduction protocol and set up the Sloth Conservation Foundation (SloCo) in 2017. Through this foundation, Rebecca creates alliances with local communities, landowners and businesses and has set up various programmes dedicated to wildlife conservation. The results are nothing less than impressive.
Rebecca and her team have engaged 3,000+ community members as conservation partners, and wildlife conflict reports have decreased by 82% They restored and reconnected over 80 km² of fragmented rainforests in Costa Rica, installed 364 arboreal wildlife bridges –the largest network of wildlife bridges in the world– and their forest nursery has grown and planted over 10,500 native trees in key locations to restore canopy connectivity. ‘Sloth School’, the SloCo’s Education Outreach programme, engages and empowers children to be stewards of their environment by increasing their understanding of sloths and how to address the threats they face.
Vision and approach
Rebecca believes that to protect sloths, you need to understand them. She has spent years in the forest, studying and monitoring the species and the threats to their existence. With her growing team at the Sloth Conservation Foundation, Rebecca implements the knowledge she acquired over the years and works with communities, businesses and the government to develop sloth conservation strategies that are mutually beneficial for both people and wildlife.
Rebecca Cliffe releasing a brown-throated three-toed sloth wearing a “sloth backpack” tracking device. Credits Suzi Eszterhas
Impact of the Future For Nature Award
With the FFN Award prize money Rebecca has:
Trained a sloth scat detection dog and handler to support long-term population monitoring.
Initiated the first ever sloth census, surveying 12 key sites so far in Costa Rica using the detection dog, trained observers, and a thermal drone.
Reconnected an additional 55 hectares of fragmented forest to protected areas through reforestation and strategic wildlife bridge installations. Created the first ‘Wildlife Safe Zones’ in Costa Rica to provide a safe reintroduction area for sloths and other species.
Expanded her network of community partners to over 3,000 local people actively involved in conservation work.
Castrated 360 dogs to help reduce stray populations and protect wildlife. Dog attacks are the second leading cause of sloth deaths in Costa Rica, with rescue centers receiving 2 to 3 injured wild animals every week due to dog encounters.
Worked together with local authorities and businesses to develop infrastructure measures, such as speed limits and insulated power lines, for the protection of wildlife.
In 2025, Rebecca will focus on scaling up impact through research, habitat restoration, and community engagement:
New Headquarters: A permanent jungle-based facility is under construction to support research, conservation, and community outreach.
Connected Gardens: 3,000 trees will be planted, 80 new wildlife bridges installed, and existing bridges repaired – while expanding into new areas, including Indigenous territories.
The Great Sloth Census: A second detection dog is being trained, and surveys will expand to new regions of Costa Rica, with data collection continuing to build toward the first national sloth population estimate, Red List Assessment and the creation of the first National Action Plan for sloths.
Urban Sloth Project: New GPS tracking, genetic sampling, and microbiome research (in partnership with Brown University) is planned for 2025 which will provide deeper insights into sloth health and adaptation.
Endangered Tree Conservation: A new initiative will protect six critically endangered tree species through reforestation and by training landowners in restoration and assisted regeneration.
Community Programs: Two new projects are being launched in 2025, including the Sloth Guardians and Sloth-Friendly Tour Guide Training Program – these will empower local residents to protect sloths and promote ethical tourism.
Last year, Rebecca’s team expanded the Connected Gardens project into Brazil’s Atlantic Forest to support habitat connectivity for the vulnerable maned sloth. In 2025, they plan to invest further resources into the Brazilian expansion, strengthening local partnerships and scaling up restoration efforts. Rebecca is exploring possible partnership with Gabriel Massocato for this project. In September 2024, Rebecca visited fellow FFN award winner Gabriel Massocato in the Pantanal, Brazil, to learn more about his work with the Giant Armadillo Project. This project visit was funded through the FFN Family Funding scheme that is aimed at strengthening collaborations across the network. The primary objectives of this visit were to collaborate on conservation initiatives, test field equipment, share region-specific knowledge, and explore potential opportunities for future partnerships.
Rebecca will also be collaborating with fellow Future For Nature Award winner Callie Veelenturf to advocate for the implementation of a Rights of Nature law in Costa Rica, aiming to establish stronger legal protections for ecosystems and the wildlife that depend on them.
Rebecca and her team are committed to advancing knowledge through rigorous research. Their studies are published in open-access, peer-reviewed journals, ensuring that their findings are accessible to the global scientific community and the public. They collaborate with several universities to deepen their understanding of sloth biology, ecology, and conservation.
For the latest updates on Rebecca’s work, visit SloCo’s website.
"In every respect, Rebecca Cliffe has demonstrated superb planning, innovation, endurance and commitment to her objectives of understanding the biology, threats, conservation needs and socio-political environment of sloths."
Brian Huntley, member of the International Selection Committee
