Efforts to restore or conserve the Andean Chocó region, a biodiversity hotspot, have become more frequent with governmental and non-governmental pledges and funding to support it. I wanted to understand the motivations behind landowners continuing projects after they finished. I interviewed five landowners and found that perceived benefits motivated landowners to continue restoration processes, such as future water conditions, but that immediate benefits, such as planting fruit trees, were key in prolonging that motivation. In the process, landowners became stewards of the forests and shaped the landscape.