COSTA RICA ECO TOURISM

Lessons The Swiss Might Learn

This Costa Rica eco tourism article was inspired from a book proudly proclaiming that Costa Rica is the "Switzerland of Central America."

Baloney.

Switzerland is a great country. The Alps are indescribable and the Swiss are among the most ecologically sensitive in the world.

But, wealthy Switzerland fiddled around as its wildlife treasure was squandered. Costa Rica did not---and Costa Rica eco tourism is helping to preserve the rich fabric of life.

So today, in the orchestra of life, Switzerland plays second fiddle to Costa Rica.

Here's why.

Our story begins with. . .

Christopher Columbus.

"Most Miserable Spanish Colony"

Sixteen years later, the Spanish Governor of Costa Rica felt that Columbus' confidence was misplaced for he complained that he found it to be the “the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all Americas.”

There were vast deposits of gold to the north and to the south of Costa Rica. That treasure brought Conquistadores, pillaging in the name of God and the Crown, death, and destruction to two great civilizations.

Costa Rica was largely saved because there was very little gold and not enough people to make slavery profitable. By those measures, it was, indeed, the "most miserable" of colonies.

Columbus and the Governor were wrong. You see, they suffered from a lack of vision, common then, common today.

Consider Switzerland.

Switzerland of Central America?

But, Switzerland and all of Mother Earth would be better off if it were called “The Costa Rica of Europe” and emulated Costa Rica eco tourism policies.

Here is why.

There was a time when both places had abundant wildlife. Switzerland had bears, wolves, lynx, chamois, and deer but most of the predators were killed off hundreds of years ago. Indeed, the last unfortunate bear, probably a creature that unwittingly trespassed into the country, was killed 105 years ago.

Apparently, there just wasn't room enough in this bucolic country for all of God’s creatures and Man.

How did this happen?

Like Columbus and the Spanish governor, Switzerland lacked vision. So, today, a traveler in Switzerland can enjoy great chocolate and Swiss trains that run on time but not the thrill of seeing wild animals.

However, there is a place where a traveler can enjoy great coffee, a real Swiss train, AND wild animals. How and where? Hop a Swiss train near Arenal Volcano in Costa Rica, click here

Paradise in the Tropics

You see, while Switzerland has few remaining animals, little Costa Rica is bursting at the seams. Just the size of West Virginia, so small you can drive its entire length in a few hours, Costa Rica has nearly twenty percent of all the species of plants and animals on the globe.

Imagine. One of every five kinds of plant on earth calls Costa Rica home. One of every five species of animal on earth is found in Costa Rica.

All in all, somewhere between 500,000 and a million species of animals and plants, including more than 2,000 different kinds of orchids, exist in the Land of Pura Vida!

Paradise.

The Last Eden.

Paradise Lost

Easy pickings. Real temptation. And, regrettably like the Spaniards, they lacked vision.

One after the other, countries to the north and countries to the south chose exploitation. Quick gain, quick riches. The great forests were cut and burned, north to south, east to west, coast to coast, under the mistaken belief that unfettered development was the ticket to prosperity. Instead, it brought grinding poverty to most except huge landowners, many of which were huge multinational businesses.

Wildlife was decimated. Huge caravans of pack animals carried off hundreds of millions of turtle eggs each year from Mexican (and other Central and South American) beaches, leaving nothing behind. So great was the plunder that within two decades some beaches went from more than 100,000 nests to two. Sea turtles were mercilessly slaughtered so that a portion of their shell could be sent to the Far East and Italy as a decoration on expensive shoes or knick knacks in American tourist shops. Parrots and macaws were brought to the edge of extinction for the American and European pet trades.

Like Eden's forbidden fruit, temptation coupled with easy pickings, resulted in Paradise Lost.

Paradise Reclaimed

Further, year-after-year, it rejected efforts to explore potential oil deposits off its shores despite promises of wealth (think how much the fabulous oil deposits in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Iran have helped the people of those countries).

In a world dominated from East to West and North to South with the notion that exploitation creates wealth, Costa Rica turned away to a radical concept: sustainable development.

Maybe not as radical as it sounds. You see, as Costa Rica set out on a course of sustainability, humans responded with encouragement---and altruistic investment capital.

Money flowed in to purchase land and create parks and nature preserves. More and more travelers came for Costa Rica eco tourism.

People came from around the world to see wildlife that was vanishing everywhere else. As Costa Rica eco tourism increased, so did the flow of dollars and euros.

Animals, nearly hunted to extinction throughout Central America, became more valuable alive than dead as more and more people took Costa Rica vacations specifically to travel Costa Rica and wonder at its diversity of life. Sea turtles became the "hen that laid the golden egg" for some Caribbean communities, click for more

And The Results, Please

a. Planted so many trees that its forest areas have grown more than 20%, resulting in the return of wildlife not seen in decades;

b. Set aside more than a quarter of the country as parks, reserves, and refuges. No other country has even come close;

c. Announced that by 2021 it will be the world’s first carbon neutral country. This is not idle talk for the country has already announced how it will do so.

d. Created the world’s largest green sea turtle preserve on its Caribbean Coast and the world’s largest olive ridley sea turtle preserve on its Pacific Coast;

e. Risen to the very top of the world’s “Happy Index”, a measure of a country’s health, satisfaction with life, and devotion to preservation and development of sustainable resources;

f. Become one of the most stable countries in the Western Hemisphere and a world class tourist destination.

You see, Ticos (Costa Ricans) learned that Costa Rica eco tourism brings a lot of money along with it.

Turtles, birds, orchids are worth far more alive and sustained than dead or caged.

Which brings us back to Switzerland. It is not too late for that country to take to heart what Costa Rica has accomplished.

Imagine the day when a Swiss hiker sees the first bear track in more than 100 years or hears of a wolf's howl in the night.

One day, perhaps Switzerland will be called “The Costa Rica of Europe” if it takes to heart the lessons the little Latin American country has to offer. Costa Rica eco tourism demonstrates that a nation's natural heritage can be reclaimed.

I’m optimistic about Switzerland's chances (if it has the will) because, after all, it invented the Swiss Army Knife.

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