Category Archive: ‘Costa Rica Eco Tourism’

Costa Rica Eco Travel

02 Feb

The evolution of ‘Ecotourism’
by Lisa Khajavi

Costa Rica Eco Trave Hotels and Packages

As a world-wide leader in nature-oriented travel, with 5% of the world’s biodiversity within only .035% of the world’s land, Costa Rica continues to be in the spotlight for ecotourism.  Since 1993, tourism has been the top generator of foreign revenues for Costa Rica, surpassing both bananas and coffee.   The ICT (Costa Rican Institute for Tourism) acknowledges that the tourism in Costa Rica has become mainly ecotourism.  It is easy to see why, with Costa Rica’s 25 national parks, 58 wildlife refuges, 32 protected zones, 15 wetland areas or mangroves, 11 forest reserves, 8 biological reserves, as well as 12 other conservation regions.  The array of flora and fauna is staggering.  Martha Honey of the CESD (Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development) cites the following:

“This West Virginia-sized country boasts more bird species (850) than are found in the United States and Canada combined, more variety of butterflies than in all of Africa, more than 6,000 kinds of flowering plants (including 1,500 varieties of orchids),  and over 35,000 species of insects.  Costa Rica is, as former minister of natural resources Alvaro Umana put it, a biological superpower.”  (Honey 2003)

Dolphins in Drake’s Bay, Osa Peninsula
Dolphins in Drake’s Bay, Osa Peninsula

All of this natural wonder in the most stable country both socially and politically in Central America, perhaps even all of Latin America, is heaven for especially the ecotraveler.  To its credit, Costa Rica has the highest percentage of protected land in the world (Fenell and Eagles 1990).  Further, Costa Rica has preserved these lands and natural habitats in such a way that they are more accessible to tourists than those of any other country in the region (Budowski 1993).  The small size of the country is a huge factor as well; a traveler has the opportunity to visit more destinations per visit if desired.

The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) defines ecotourism as:

“Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”

The history of ecotourism is interesting.  The term ‘ecotourism’ was coined in 1983 by Hector Ceballos-Lascurain, one of Mexico’s top architects as well as renowned environmentalist and Ecotourism expert.  Ceballos-Lascurain is the Director General of the Programme of International Consultancy on Ecotourism (PICE), and special advisor on Ecotourism to the World Conservation Union (IUCN).  The following definitions are quoted from Ceballos-Lascurain in an ecoclub.com article Meet the Architect of Ecotourism.

1983 definition:  “Ectourism is tourism that involves traveling to relatively undisturbed natural areas with the specific object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects (both past and present) found in these areas.”   His hope was that the result would be that people would become more knowledgeable and aware of nature and thus likely to be more involved in conservation issues.  This very desire came to fruition.

He revised the definition in 1993, which was then adopted by the IUCN in 1996 as its official definition, which states:  “Ecotourism is environmentally responsible travel to relatively undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy, study and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features, both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations.”

What began as a niche in the early 80’s has grown exponentially with far-reaching effects.  From the roots of ecotourism sprang ‘responsible’ and ‘sustainable’ tourism, and as seen above ecotourism is now defined to include the latter.  In October of 2008, United Nations Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner joined the Rainforest Alliance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) to announce the first-ever globally relevant sustainable tourism criteria at the IUCN World Conservation Congress. The new criteria was developed to offer a common guide to the burgeoning practice of sustainable tourism and to help consumers, businesses, governments, non-governmental organizations and education institutions to ensure that tourism has positive, rather than negative effects on local communities and the environment.  To find out more, check out www.SustainableTourismCriteria.org.

In order to promote tourism providers that practice sustainability, the Costa Rican ICT developed the Center for Sustainable Tourism (CST) which provides certification to businesses that are committed to sustainable practices.  The certification is given at levels from 1 to 5 green leaves, with many businesses currently certified and in process.   The Rainforest Alliance recognizes the CST as a valid entity to promote and ensure sustainable practices in Costa Rica.  Countless others in tourism are involved in sustainable practices in Costa Rica that are under the radar.  Also there is the newly formed Costa Rican National Chamber of Ecotourism (CANAECO) which is Rainforest Alliance affiliated.   With all of these organizations to help promote and enforce authenticity, backed by huge consumer demand, there is sure to be more and more in the tourism sector on board to protect Costa Rica’s priceless ecosystems and communities.

If you are interested in Ecotravel or Ecotourism in Costa Rica, speak with an expert contact us here.  We can provide you with invaluable advice about anything you have interest in regarding ecotourism in Costa Rica.

NatureAir and NatureVacations are proud to practice environmental and social responsibility. NatureAir is The world’s first certified Carbon Neutral Airline and presents an informative  video  at http://www.natureair.com/carbonneutral/ .  Also to learn more about our biodiesel program see http://blog.natureair.com/.

Lapa Rios Eco Lodge - Osa Peninsula - South PacificLapa Rios Eco Lodge – Osa Peninsula – South Pacific

Costa Rica Eco Travel
The evolution of ‘Ecotourism’
by Lisa Khajavi

 
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Posted in Costa Rica Eco Tourism

 

Luxury in the Costa Rican Jungle?

29 Sep

by Wayward Traveler

So here I am flying over this sea of green to my ‘Luxury’ vacation in the jungle.  Can somebody please explain HOW I am going to be given a luxury experience in this place?  I have not seen anything resembling civilization in some time let alone a luxury resort.  Where I am flying to is a place in southern Costa Rica, in the Osa peninsula where researchers have labeled the region as one of the most rich in the world for bio-diversity.  It is not that I NEED a luxury vacation; I am a workaholic so anything resembling relaxation is luxurious to me but I am now a bit critical as we have paid for a luxury vacation in Costa Rica and I am now looking forward to seeing how that can be accomplished here.

So as we start to descend we get a wonderful look at a rural village in Costa Rica and we circle in for an approach to what I thought was a small dirt road but turned out to be the airport!  I brace for a rough landing but am gifted with a soft touchdown, obvious showoff from the pilot.  The terminal is a thatch hut but despite the lack of modern airport look and feel, out come the baggage handlers and support people with efficiency rivaling any International airport.  I thank the Captain and give him a thumbs up for his landing and we are whisked into our Land Rover.

‘So everybody welcome to Drake Bay, we will be crossing a river in a mile or two, don’t worry it is not very deep and we will get you to your boat’ says our happy-go-lucky driver.  ‘Boat, what boat’ I think to myself with a bit of a smile.  Sure enough there is was a nice river which was not too deep but the water was washing over the hood!  Despite my nervous dance in my seat we navigated through without getting even our toes wet.  ‘By the way, you may want to take off your shoes for the boat’ our driver advises.  ‘Huh?’, ‘What does he mean?’, I ask my wife.  She smiles as if to say, go with the flow.

As we make our way through the jungle the driver stops and points out a small building painted a playful blue color.  He says ‘This is our school sponsored by NatureAir, called Nature Kids.  We teach English to the village kids for free.’.  ‘People who speak English make more money than those that don’t, so we are helping the community to help themselves, if we work in tourism we don’t need to cut the trees.’  My wife is a teacher and she gave me that look, ‘impressive’.

We arrive in town, which is saying a lot but they have a Church, a School, and a store and everyone was jumping in to help us get our things down to the beach.  Well here comes the barefoot part, no dock so into the water we go as the villagers carry our bags overhead to the boat.  Our boat ride is short as the cove is just a few hundred meters away but as we enter the cove our boat driver says ‘Up there is the river, you can paddle up there when the tide comes in and see lots of animals then have an easy paddle down as the tide goes out again.’.  I look at my wife, ‘like we are going to do that, looks like animal kingdom up there!’.

Our boat driver docks us quickly and helps us out where we are greeted by a young girl who is obviously from the States, “Welcome to La Paloma Lodge, let’s get you settled in.”  So we walk up into what looks like a scene from Swiss Family Robinson.  We start to see small huts built into the jungle, each with a unique personality.  These are NOT cookie cutter modern construction units you see in every corner of the globe, these are the real deal.  They are made from bamboo, teak and other local woods and look like they belong there.

We arrive at the main building and are offered a drink which was made from jungle juice, literally!  We are escorted to our two story cabin and allowed to start our vacation.  So off to the upper deck I go with my book in hand for a bit of reading.  My wife points out, no computers, no phones, no TVs!  I get about one chapter in when I hear a rustling in the trees, I look up to see the squirrel or swallow or what not but nope, it was a Toucan, sitting about 1 meter away on a tree branch, hmmm thats interesting!  My wife whispers up from downstairs, there is some giant furry thing out here!  So down I go, and sure enough there is a dog-sized animal in the trees moving very very slowly, a three-toed sloth I am later told.

So off to dinner we go and we find large tables set up where we sit with two other couples who share in great conversation over great home style cooking with the best fruit and vegetables found in Costa Rica.  Every need is catered to and we are treated like honored guests.  After dinner with a Cognac in hand we are treated to monkeys visiting us and the other adventurers for what seemed like hours.  Time moves slower here and the mind is free to think, no electronic intervention necessary.

We welcomed our bed that night and there is new meaning to the word dark as the lack of civilization makes for darkness deeper than any I have seen, then the rain.  Down comes the rain, not rain in the typical sense but rain that has personality.  The power of the rain is felt but at the same time is comforting, it lasts a few hours and is replaced by the most wonderful smell of the jungle.  We are asleep quickly and completely.

No it is not the sounds of car horns and sirens or the car alarms, it is the Howler.  If not for the guide book borrowed from the library after dinner we would have been looking for a good hiding place.  Despite their small size the Howler is monstrous in voice.  That is a new kind of wake up call I think to myself!

Off to breakfast and a new day’s adventures!  ‘So what will it be…diving with White Fin Sharks off Canos Island, whale watching off shore, nature hike into the jungles of Corcovado?’, they ask.  My wife and I look up at each other…’Nope, how about paddling up the mouth of the river at high tide?’.

“Man this is luxury isn’t it honey?”, she only smiles…”Yes honey, it is.”

Wayward Traveler

 
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