Golden frogSan Jose is the capital of Costa Rica, but it is not known as a good tourist destination. It´s dirty, overpopulated, and seems to be no different than other large Latin American cities. What makes Costa Rica different than other Latin American countries is what is outside San Jose. I call it the ¨country¨, but it is Costa Rica´s natural parks and protected areas around the country that makes it a good tourist destination.
Costa Rica prides itself with being a large ecotourism country. Ecotourism enhances cultural and environmental factors. Our first ecotourism destination in Costa Rica was to Arenal (volcano) and Monte Verde (cloud forest). They are ecotourism locations because Arenal is a natural park and Monte Verde is a protected area.
Arenal is a visited tourist destination because of the volcanic eruption of 1968. When we traveled through the park we saw how the land had naturally recovered from the eruption without human involvement. There were smaller plants that covered the ground and when we got closer to the volcano the volcanic rocks took over and a few plants grew around them.
Monte Verde is a protected cloud forest. There was a primary forest that is older than 80 years old. There is also a secondary forest that has been cut down within the last 80 years, but it is now growing back and will become a primary forest again. You can tell the difference between the two because the secondary forest has shorter trees and more foliage on the ground. The primary forest has taller trees with fewer plants on the ground because there was less sunlight for them to survive.
According to Cradle to Cradle, ¨Nothing goes in or out of the planetary system except for heat and the occasional meteorite. The system is closed, and its basic elements are valuable and finite. Whatever is naturally here is all we have. Whatever humans make does not go ´away´´´ (103). Costa Rica is taking advantage of their naturally beautiful landscapes and making it so humans cannot destroy some parts of their country (natural parks and protected areas). This is becoming very appealing to tourists because they want to see what ´´natural´´ looks like. This may also destroy what is making Costa Rica a lot of money. People can destroy protected areas, trampling through, taking things that aren´t supposed to be touched, and scaring away the natural wildlife which could eventually destroy the natural habitat of the plants that need the animals to help them pollinate and grow.´´ The vitality of ecosystems depend on relationships: what goes on between species, their uses and exchanges of materials and energy in a given place…Remove the threads, one by one, and an ecosystem becomes less stable, less able to withstand natural catastrophe and disease, less able to stay healthy and to evolve over time´´ (Cradle to Cradle, 121-122).
Example: The golden frog was a very popular frog in Monte Verde, but now it is believed to be extinct because it hasn´t been seen for over twenty years. Reasons for its extinction include that a fungus was introduced into Monte Verde that killed off the frog. Another conclusion is because of the climate change that is a result of global warming.
One way Costa Rica is trying to lessen the amount of tourists is by not making it easy to get to these locations. Our ride up to Monte Verde was a very long ride, up a mountain, and the road was full of potholes. Not widening to roads or fixing the potholes is a strategy that local towns are using to keep to tourist population low, but how long will that last?
Costa Rica prides itself with being a large ecotourism country. Ecotourism enhances cultural and environmental factors. Our first ecotourism destination in Costa Rica was to Arenal (volcano) and Monte Verde (cloud forest). They are ecotourism locations because Arenal is a natural park and Monte Verde is a protected area.
Arenal is a visited tourist destination because of the volcanic eruption of 1968. When we traveled through the park we saw how the land had naturally recovered from the eruption without human involvement. There were smaller plants that covered the ground and when we got closer to the volcano the volcanic rocks took over and a few plants grew around them.
Monte Verde is a protected cloud forest. There was a primary forest that is older than 80 years old. There is also a secondary forest that has been cut down within the last 80 years, but it is now growing back and will become a primary forest again. You can tell the difference between the two because the secondary forest has shorter trees and more foliage on the ground. The primary forest has taller trees with fewer plants on the ground because there was less sunlight for them to survive.
According to Cradle to Cradle, ¨Nothing goes in or out of the planetary system except for heat and the occasional meteorite. The system is closed, and its basic elements are valuable and finite. Whatever is naturally here is all we have. Whatever humans make does not go ´away´´´ (103). Costa Rica is taking advantage of their naturally beautiful landscapes and making it so humans cannot destroy some parts of their country (natural parks and protected areas). This is becoming very appealing to tourists because they want to see what ´´natural´´ looks like. This may also destroy what is making Costa Rica a lot of money. People can destroy protected areas, trampling through, taking things that aren´t supposed to be touched, and scaring away the natural wildlife which could eventually destroy the natural habitat of the plants that need the animals to help them pollinate and grow.´´ The vitality of ecosystems depend on relationships: what goes on between species, their uses and exchanges of materials and energy in a given place…Remove the threads, one by one, and an ecosystem becomes less stable, less able to withstand natural catastrophe and disease, less able to stay healthy and to evolve over time´´ (Cradle to Cradle, 121-122).
Example: The golden frog was a very popular frog in Monte Verde, but now it is believed to be extinct because it hasn´t been seen for over twenty years. Reasons for its extinction include that a fungus was introduced into Monte Verde that killed off the frog. Another conclusion is because of the climate change that is a result of global warming.
One way Costa Rica is trying to lessen the amount of tourists is by not making it easy to get to these locations. Our ride up to Monte Verde was a very long ride, up a mountain, and the road was full of potholes. Not widening to roads or fixing the potholes is a strategy that local towns are using to keep to tourist population low, but how long will that last?
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