Costa Rica

Forest and Bird, Volume 20, Issue 4, 1 November 1989, Page 24

Costa Rica

By

Margaret Peace

Wildlife Sanctuary of the Americas

EVELOPED NATIONS frequently quote the "Southern" countries of Latin America as extreme examples of environmental abuse, especially through deforestation. But a closer look at Costa Rica reveals a country making valiant conservation efforts which deserve international recognition. When the Spanish arrived in Costa Rica in the 16th century they found the country almost entirely forest covered. Indian methods of agriculture, with no livestock, had made minimal destructive impact on the landscape for centuries. Spanish settlers, with far less respect for nature than the indigenous people, soon began large scale land clearance for cropping but the population remained fewer than 50,000 until the 19th century when coffee was established as an export crop. Since then the population has expanded to two and a half million with consequent increased demand for cropping and grazing land, as well as sacrifice of forests for timber exports. A figure quoted in 1981 was 60,000 ha being cleared per annum in a country with a total area of only 5.2 million ha (a third the size of our South Island).

Costa Rica Different

However, Costa Rica is different from all other Latin American countries in several respects. It has never been plagued by extremes of wealth and poverty and is immensely proud of its 40-year record of stable democratic government with no expenditure on any military

forces, and strong emphasis on the housing, health and education of its people. This background has favoured the development of a conservation ethic singularly lacking in other parts of Central America. The concept of National Parks, first considered in the 1940s, became a reality in 1974 when several parks were established. Since then a succession of presidents have favoured conservation and ensured government funding which has enabled the setting aside of 29 national parks and wildlife reserves which now comprise 525,000 ha, or 10.3 percent of the country’s total area. Because of its varied topography and geographical position, Costa Rica has a remarkably rich and diverse flora and fauna condensed in a small area. The number of species already identified (by no means exhaustive) include 208 mammals, 850 birds, 220 reptiles, 132 amphibians and over 9,000 species of vascular plants. It is claimed that the confirmed existence of most of these is assured by the protection of a wide range of habitat types including tropical rainforest, dry deciduous forest, herbaceous swamps, lagoons and coastlines, coral reefs, bird islands, and mountains up to 3,000m high.

Dedication and Enthusiasm

In a recent month-long visit to Costa Rica I stayed in several of the parks and was impressed by the dedication and enthusiasm of park superintendents who were eager to share their knowledge. So far, funding priority has been given to acquiring the reserves and supplying field staff to guard against poaching of wildlife, or burning and timber removal on park boundaries. Facilities for visitors are generally minimal, sometimes non-existent. Tourists are therefore conspicuously absent

except in two or three of the coastal parks. Santa Rosa National Park in the extreme northwest represents the only remaining sizeable area of tropical dry forest, a habitat type once continuous along the entire Pacific coast from northern Mexico to Panama, but mostly long since converted to cattle and cotton production. Of several hundred tree species in the dry forest, half of them are deciduous during the drought conditions which prevail for six months of the year. Nevertheless there is an abundance of fauna, including

gorgeously coloured birds and insects, monkeys, coatimundis, anteaters and deer. There is an Ongoing project to reafforest areas previously burned by planting hundreds of thousands of tree seedlings every year. The adjacent beach protects the largest arribadas of Olive Ridley turtles in all of tropical America. Manual Antonio National Park contains virgin coastal rainforest, home to brilliant macaw parrots and several species of humming birds, two-toed sloths and the beautiful endangered squirrel monkey. The adjacent coastline and off-shore islands are also protected nesting sites for brown pelicans, frigate birds and boobies. Monte Verde reserve, which spans the Continental Divide, has been largely funded by North American conservation organisations and is administered by the Tropical Science Centre. It contains well-maintained tracks, an information centre and accommodation facilities for large groups of students. Important among the wealth of wildlife are the amazing golden toad, which is endemic to the reserve, and the magnificent Quetzal which has been described as the most beautiful bird in the world. A sacred bird to the Aztec and Mayan Indians, its gorgeous metre-long tail feathers were carefully plucked to adorn kings and priests, and were treasured more than gold. Formerly distributed throughout Central America, the Quetzal is now very rare outside Costa Rica (though it continues to be the national symbol and coinage of Guatemala).

Probably the most developed of the national parks is Poas, centred on a huge active volcano, which can be reached by road. There is a large, well-appointed visitor centre with excellent educational displays. Some of the less accessible reserves do not encourage visitors other than bona fide scientific researchers. It is important to note that Costa Rica claims 93 percent literacy in its population and nature conservation is a subject specifically included in the science programmes of all secondary schools (where attendance is free and compulsory). There is considerable public awareness about environmental problems and a demand for information from the National Parks Service. The National Open University is developing an extensive programme of education, research and field studies in nature conservation.

Natural Laboratories

In the words of a past Costa Rican president: "Our National Parks are splendid natural laboratories which we offer to the scientific community — the contribution of the Costa Rican people to peace and goodwill among nations". And in this respect their sincerity has been proved by Costa Rican initiatives in establishing International Friendship Parks spanning the boundaries between their own country and Panama to the south and Nicaragua to the north.

Nevertheless it needs to be emphasised that, by western standards, Costa Rica is a poor country, where the setting aside of land for nature conservation means deprivation in the short term for the majority of the people who depend on agriculture. Western societies who deplore the loss of tropical ecosystems should be prepared to reduce their own high demands on the earth’s resources, as well as donating some of their wealth and expertise for conservation projects in "Southern" countries. yf