The Ara Project, Punta Islita

The Ara Project was an NGO and former zoo run by a retired United States expatriate couple which existed in from the 1980s to 2008 as a private zoo under the name Amigos de las Aves, and was re-branded from 2009 to 2018 as "The Ara Project", with the goal to conserve the two native macaw species of Costa Rica: the great green macaw, known locally as lapa verde, and the scarlet macaw, known locally as lapa roja. It has since re-branded again. ()