As an aspiring environmental scientist, I have spent years learning about the importance of protecting biodiversity, especially in hotspots around the world. I have memorized numbers and statistics, and can talk at great length about how important rainforests are to our planet. But it wasn’t until I walked among the trees in the rainforest cathedral that the power of all those facts and statistics really hit me. The dots connected, the circuit completed and allowed the electricity of the biodiversity to flow through my soul. This…this is what I am fighting for! I must do everything I can to protect and save these vital forests!
Society (myself included), tends to overuse the term “Amazing”. But it wasn’t until I stepped into the rainforests of Costa Rica that I really felt the power of that term. Because the word is so overused, it doesn’t seem big enough to capture what I felt stir in my soul. It was truly amazing in the very literal sense of the word.
Costa Rica is truly one of a kind. Considered the “Switzerland of Central America”, Costa Rica has developed one of the most complex systems of protecting natural areas in all of Latin America. This includes:
- 850 species of birds
- 220 species of reptiles
- 160 species of amphibians
- 280 species of mammals (>50% are just bats)
- 130 species of freshwater fishies
- 9000 species of vascular plants (4% of world total)
- o 1200 are orchids
- o 1200 are hardwoods
- These grow at a density of 200+ species per acre
- And more insect species than we can currently keep up with. (Green Republic)
All of this is contained within the country that is only 19,600 square miles (which is just a tad smaller than West Virginia). This biodiversity is possible due to its unique geological history. Costa Rica was formed fairly recently in Earth’s history (3-4 million years ago) when an uplift united the archipelago and because a land bridge that allowed the free travel of species from north to south. (Green Republic). What has served as an even greater role in species diversification are the abrupt topographic and climate variations that occur which create a “great complexity of surface landforms”. This includes 3 distinct mountain ranges with climbs up to 6000ft in elevation and 5 major natural areas which create their own different microclimates. Leslie R. Holdrige, an internationally respected forestry biologist developed a bioclimactic classification system of life zone ecologies for the area which include 12 distinct life zones in Costa Rica based on temperature, rainfall, evaporation, humidity, and elevation. This creates a “Complex ecological mosaic” of species diversification.
With words like “model”, “example”, “beacon”, “prototype”, and “ideal” being used to describe Costa Rica’s national park system. – not only in numbers, but diversity, size, & management plans – it is mind boggling to me that in less than 10 years, Costa Rica has gone from 0 protected parks/areas to having a greater percentage of land designated as national parks than the United States. We would need to have an equivalent park system the size of Texas AND Oklahoma combined. Currently 28 percent of CR is designated as legally protected
- 11% in National Parks
- 4% in indigenous reserves
- 13% is divided among biological reserves (Green Republic)
Costa Rica has managed to protect a larger proportion of its land than any other country in the world. But how did this come to be in such a short time? In 1970 there came a growing acknowledgment that something unique and lovely was vanishing, and a systematic effort was begun to save what was left of the wilderness. That year, the Costa Ricans formed a national park system that has won worldwide admiration. Costa Rican law declared inviolate 10.27 percent of a land once compared to Eden; an additional 17 percent is legally set aside as forest reserves, “buffer zones,” wildlife refuges, and Indian reserves. Throughout the country representative sections of all the major habitats and ecosystems are protected for tomorrow’s generations (CENTRAL AMERICA.COM). The National Conservation Areas System (SINAC) protects more than 186 areas, including–at press time–32 national parks, eight biological reserves, 13 forest reserves, and 51 wildlife refuges. Currently, SINAC oversees all of these areas and promotes progressive policies on environmental protection, and sustainable eco-tourism.
Also people have and continue to raise money to help purchase land for protection – for example the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, which is the largest private reserve in Costa Rica – exists thanks to the help of children and adults all over the world who have taken part in what is known as the Children’s Rainforest Movement. This fundraising campaign started in Sweden and the United States of America in 1987, and continued to expand around the world. At present, 44 different countries have contributed to the acquisition and protection of the territories of this rainforest (ACMCR.ORG). Currently the Organization of Tropical Studies expands to connect 52 US and Costa Rican universities, and the country is host to many important ongoing scientific studies. What is most important, is that the citizens of Costa Rica may not agree on everything, but almost everybody supports conservation despite only a few being scientists.
But Costa Rica is not without problems of their own. Just like here in the United States there is a battle between human development and conservation of vital green spaces. In the past 15 years, San Jose the capital of Costa Rica, and three other major cities (Cartago, Heredia and Alajuela), have been growing uncontrolled and unregulated in development, housing, urbanization, industry and commerce, which is starting to cause some major problems for the surrounding environment. The population of Costa Rica has increased 4.8 times in the past 50 years, from 800.875 inhabitants, in 1950, to almost 4 millions in the year 2.000. A 2,8% rate growth. This confirms the urbanization process in the major cities of the country and the secondary cities as well, that are extending to become one (Vargas, 2000) . The mixing of these different zones has created a time bomb in the ecological environment. Contamination of not only human waste, but dangerous chemical waste used in the industry is an every day issue in Costa Rica and in the world, and is becoming more and more the concern of the political and civil society.
This is why in such a small country as Costa Rica the environment has to become, sooner or later, the most important point in the national agenda, knowing the potential in it is natural resources. You can’t have better cities and standards of living without the right natural environment. The national constitution explicitly in the chapter 50, establishes: “Article 50. – The State shall procure the greatest welfare of all inhabitants of the country, organizing and promoting production and the most adequate distribution of wealth. Every person has the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, being therefore entitled to denounce any acts that may infringe said right and claim redress for the damage caused. The State shall guarantee, defend and preserve that right. The law shall establish the appropriate responsibilities and penalties.” (Vargas, 2000). In Costa Rica, governmental environmental agencies focus on community involvement and education proving that a socially conservative government can still care about conservation efforts. Getting schools and kids and the public in general engaged with the wildlife is a good way to help preserve it. Elections are through compulsory voting and All citizens over age 18 are obliged to register to vote and to participate in elections. Voter turnout has traditionally been high, averaging about four-fifths of eligible voters from the 1960s through 1994, before falling thereafter, yet still maintaining higher voter turnouts than many developed countries. (Britannica)
Human beings are the dominant force that shapes the earth’s ecological and biophysical systems. Countries with a high level of development tend to have higher ecological footprints, the challenge is for countries to increase their human development while keeping their footprint down to globally sustainable levels ( WWF). While my time in Costa Rica was brief, I was able to see right away that the country and her people are actively engaging in trying to create and maintain a Green Republic.
In my previous posts, I have talked in length about the power of the people in saving our vital green spaces, and this trip to Costa Rica really drove that point home for me. Interacting with the locals there was a very different experience than what I am used to at home. The people there are not only friendly and educated, but they have a deep knowledge and understanding of the environment around them. I found this perspective really refreshing and it gave me hope of something to foster in my own community. It feels like the environment is more of a background to our lives at home. We go about our days and sometimes stop to comment how pretty a tree or a bird is, but many people can’t identify what they are. We know there are trees, and grass, and various animals – but there is a deep disconnect present in between us. While in Costa Rica, nature was deeply intertwined with the communities and the people that lived there. It wasn’t just scenery or background, it was part of their lives in a very real way. Seeing these people care for, share, love, and respect the nature they were a part of was inspiring to me. It challenged me to endeavor to learn even more about what is around me at home so I can lead by example of a more stewardship minded life. One can not be a steward without first knowing what we are protecting, and then being actively involved, especially on a local community scale.
One of the most powerful things I heard while in Costa Rica, was actually from a student at EARTH University. When he introduced himself, immediately after stating his name, he stated that he was “An agent of Change”, and that really resonated with me. That boldness was incredible and something I feel as students and citizens that we need more of. Saying that makes a statement. More than just what was clearly stated, but everything about you and around you. It even challenges yourself when you say it – I mean how do you NOT feel empowered after declaring something like that? How do you not take an introspective look on how you are fulfilling that statement? Instead of being a leaf on the wind passively going wherever blown, be a locomotive that drives through adversity instead of simply changing the path. I think that statement was paramount to how we need to tackle the problems our world faces currently. I recall some of my peers feeling somewhat uncomfortable with that statement, and the conversation that followed, but I really actually liked that challenge. Because true change is going to be difficult and slow at times. To me, it underscored the importance of the LEAD portion of the EcoLead course over the semester. While it is much easier to wait around with eyes open looking for someone else’s solution to get behind – it is much more important and necessary to BE that change. To take the problem by the horns, so to speak, and actively engage and work with your community to find a solution.
I am forever grateful for this opportunity. The bonds with both people and nature that were created will stay deep in my heart forever. Costa Rica ignited something inside of me and I hope that I can bring a little bit of that fire and power back home to really help my community create change.
The rainforest is transformative. I went in with a passion for the environment and the desire to grow and learn to be a better leader, yet there was a disconnect I felt between them. I couldn’t put my finger on why it existed but recognized it was there. This trip took two separate parts of me and made them whole. Forged in the rainforest, I return a better steward and leader.
To close one last time in the words of The Lorax: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s Not.” So let us demand and work for the better future that we all deserve. Passionately Lost is not a bad place to be when you are an agent of change.
Until our paths cross again – Pura Vida!