The
first Iberian discoverers set foot in Costa Rica around 1502 in modern-day Limón,
and encountered indigenous peoples wearing gold jewelry.
In their optimism, they called this area “Costa Rica.”
Whereas large quantities of gold were never found, the country has great
wealth in terms of its natural environment.
Costa Rica’s geology has resulted in a great richness of tropical
ecosystems, from coral reefs and wetlands along the coasts to high-altitude
paramo on top of the continental divide; from dry forest on the northern Pacific
to rainforests along the Caribbean and in the southwest.
Furthermore, its position at the isthmus between North and South America
has enhanced the high diversity of species living within this postage
stamp-sized country.
Around
1969, a small band of enlightened government officials launched the conservation
movement in Costa Rica. At the time
Costa Rica was experiencing rapid growth and development, to the demise of its
natural resources. By the early
1980’s, Costa Rica had the world’s highest rate of deforestation, coupled
with one of the highest international debts and population growth rates.
After overcoming initial indifference to environmental protection and
habitat destruction, the conservation movement picket up; currently about 25% of
the country is protected under some sort of conservation management, and the
whole national territory is under a broad management plan that strives for
“sustainable development.”
The
national park service was created in 1969, and was largely a one-man operation
within the ministry of agriculture and livestock (MAG: Ministeria de Agricultura
y Ganadería). The national park
service was not the only ministry involved in conservation: two other agencies
were the ministry of the
environment (MAE: Ministerio del Ambiente) and the ministry of forestry and
wildlife (Ministerio de la Vida Silvestre).
As the conservation movement grew, the situation arose in which there
were multiple agencies managing adjacent or even overlapping areas.
As each ministry had different objectives and procedures, the result was
chaos and inefficiencies.
In
1995 the three organizations were joined into a separate entity, the national
system of conservation areas, or SINAC (Sistema Nacionál de Areas de Conservación).
One of the keystones of SINAC is the idea of sustainable development and
the incorporation of the whole country into conservation areas.
Furthermore, a major effort was placed on local, public participation.
In order for conservation to be sustainable, it must be accepted by local
inhabitants, who must be given some decision-making capacities in the process.
Under the new system, Costa Rica was divided up into some 11 conservation
areas. Each area had its
headquarters and command structure in order to quickly respond to local needs
and conditions. However, each area
is responsible for its own capital resources, meaning that some popular parks
get most of the tourists’ money, while other less accessible parks do not even
have the funds needed for basic park protection.
There are still some areas of improvements, but SINAC and Costa Rica have
come a long way from the late 1960’s, making Costa Rica such a sought-after
location for ecotourism and international assistance for sustainable
development.
There
are many ethical issues surrounding the concept of conservation and national
parks. Humans have always used the
natural landscape –usually the most productive ones!
Setting aside land to form a reserve means excluding local inhabitants,
sometimes even relocating them. How
large should a reserve be? Who
should have access to it? What is
allowed and not allowed? Are there
any species or ecosystems targeted for conservation?
We will discuss these issues in light of some examples from the history
of the national park system in Costa Rica.
Suggested
reading:
Rodruíguez,
J.M. 1997. Costa Rica: fields of conflict.
Pages 49-52. In: Forum for
Applied Research and Public Policy. University
of Tennessee, Energy, Environment and Resources Center and Oak Ridge National
Laboratory.
Boza,
M.A. 1993. Conservation in action: past, present and future of the
national park system of Costa Rica. Conservation
Biology. 7(2):239-247
Vaughan,
C. and C.M. Rodriguez. 1997.
Managing beyond borders: the Costa Rican national system of conservation areas (SINAC).
Pages 441-451. In: G.K. Meffe and C.R. Carroll, (eds.).
Principles of Conservation Biology.
Sinauer Associates, Inc. Sunderland, Massachusetts.