Our Ecotourism Experiences

One of my students is studying ecotourism as a special project. She is examining the pros and cons of this industry that is so important to Costa Rica and other nations with exceptional natural resources that the rest of the world is eager to see, including such things as beaches, forests, canyons, deserts, mountains and more. One of the reasons that Costa Rica is so heavily invested in ecotourism is that this small nation has so many of these features packed into a relatively small country (CR is about the same land area as is the state of WV). In the central valley and just outside, there are volcanos to see and experience; Arenal is one of the few constantly erupting volcanos in the world, and both Poas and Irazu look like moonscapes. The Caribbean coast is the home of nesting sea turtles and the northern part of the country features whitewater rivers widely known for rafting adventures. Of course Costa Rica has abundant forests and there are all kinds of ways to see them, ranging from simple trails to elaborate aerial trams and adrenaline-rush ziplines. Last weekend we experienced both.

Our first ecotour on Saturday brought us to the rainforest of Braulio Carrillo National Park. Actually, we were just outside the park in a private preserve. There, we visited the rainforest via both aerial tram and a short walk. See the short tram videos I've posted:

The tram took us up a hillside on a lower cable near to ground level then down the hill, through the top of the canopy. It was a quiet ride where we could peacefully observe diverse plant communities. Each tram car holds at least six people. There was not much wildlife to observe visually but we could hear the abundant birds and insects singing in the forest. This company claims to have gone to great lengths to minimize their forest impact; the only unnatural opening we could see in the forest was the immediate path for the cables. Even the large steel towers holding the tram had been airlifted in by Nicaraguan army helicopters.

After our tram tour we went on a short hike through the rainforest on a paved trail. Pat noted that the paving actually protects the forest from foot erosion, and the guides were very particular about keeping us grouped together and on the trail. Again, we were fully immersed in the forest and were able to observe habitat for leaf cutter ants, the eyelash viper that we found on a palm leaf, and we were amazed to see an anteater descending a tree and ambling off into the woods. The only drawback was the size of our group, about 14 people, but we managed to see quite a bit of the forest ecosystem in a short time.

Overall, I would have to rate this ecotourism experience very positively, 7 or 8 on a 1 -10 scale. The overall biological and physical impact to this area just outside the park was minimal yet the company can obviously move quite a few people through the system. They also stressed that local Costa Rican school children were brought to this tram using some proceeds from our ticket sales, a big plus. To complete the picture, I would like to know what overall percentage of their profits are actully returned to the local community.

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Sunday, our second encounter with ecotourism brought us to the Pacific coast. We visited Punta Leon and confined our visit to an enclosed compound that was very focused towards the well-heeled tourist. We were given wrist bands to identify us and were ushered to the zipline outfitting building. There, we were given harnesses and driven by bus to the top of the forest canopy trail. We waddled up in our harnesses and one-by-one we launched ourselves through the forest.

This too was ecoutourism, but it contributed very little to our understanding of the forest ecology. I've ridden and built many different zipline systems but for first time riders, the ride was the adventure, not the location. Ziplines are loud, fast and fun, but they don't provide much of an educational experience.

The other part of our visit to Punta Leon was our visit to Playa Blanca. This was a typical tourist beach without a lot of natural zone protection. The complex did make an effort to minimize air pollution by using electric vehicles within the compound. Unfortunately, some of our students were not treated well by the vendors or other guests there. On a scale of 1 - 10, I would rate this ecotourism experience as a 3 or 4.

- Chuck