Eco-romanticism in Costa Rica
As I am leaving Costa Rica I bring many nature memories with me of white beaches, blue mountains and green forests. It is an honor to travel through this landscape and I leave my prints with bare feet in the sand, with tire tracks on the dirt road and with hiking soles on the trails. This is truly a country for a nature romantic soul such as mine. Everything is eco-stamped and the letters E, C and O is commonly used in the beginning of many words. Eco-adventures, eco-lodges, eco-tourism. The love we feel for the natural surroundings might however blind us and prevent us from seeing the destructive relationship between visitor and land. In the case of Costa Rica it results in mass-tourism rather than eco-tourism.
The tourism here does provide an economic value to the environment. The dollars that are paid to watch mini turtles start off their life with a marathon to the sea gives a higher income then when they are sold as the main ingredients in a turtle-egg-soup. A protected rainforest with a zip-line that runs over the treetops increases the value as a product rather than having it sold at a discount by chopping down its stems. But when tourists are frightening the animals with their screams during Tarzan-tours and blind the turtles with their flashing cameras, I wonder if we should erase those three letters in front of the word tourism.
I meet a professor in ecology and evolutionary biology in the lush mountain region of Monteverde. She says that eco-tourism might be milder compared to other types of tourism, but that it is still not sustainable. Even before we have reached the park entrance to the rainforest our carbon emission have risen substantially and will not be compensated simply by paying the park fee. We need to contribute to the preservation and reforestation directly. The professor does say however, that the nature experience might work as a source of knowledge and inspiration. So, even if our tourist treks in Costa Rica leaves carbon footprints, it could be the first staggering steps towards a lifestyle that deserves the initial letters of E, C and O.
Peace
