It’s funny the news you get while you’re traveling. Whether you’re exploring a new city, relaxing on the beach, or going through a crash course in conducting field research in the rainforests of Costa Rica, you tend to disconnect from your regular news intake. Still, some news comes through.
One piece of news that I have kept up to date on are the recent wildfires in Canada and smoke they are producing. Apocalyptic images of New York cast in an orange, smokey, midday haze are almost the complete opposite of what is around me right now. As I look at the lush forest, watch for new kinds of birds and bugs, and listen for howler monkeys in the distance, such environmental catastrophes seem worlds away.
This isn’t just because of the physical distance, but also because of how much I’ve been learning about La Selva. In Tropical Nature, one of our pre-departure reading assignments, Adrian Forsyth and Kenneth Miyata note that a tropical rainforest can seem like an endless abyss of green to the untrained eye. I surely felt, and continue to feel, pretty clueless about the true biological wonder around me. The expertise of my classmates, professors, and nature walk guides have certainly helped me better understand it, but the more I learn, the more I can see how much more there is to learn.
From the outside, the forest seems intimidating, strong, and resilient. Towering trees crack concrete paths with their sprawling roots, climb toward the sky, and cast deep shadows with their own leaves and those of the wide bromeliads they support on their branches, starving any seedlings thirsty for light below. Among these trees, and all of the other numerous species of plants, bullet ants, venomous snakes, and jaguars lurk.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the real dangers present, especially as I have been learning more about them for my research project. Kayla and I are investigating perceptions of mosquito borne illness and snake bite risks. Of course, it’s important to be educated on these risks, but it’s also important to understand that they are minimized with proper precautions.
During my time at La Sleva, I’ve found some balance between the risks posed and the opportunities to learn that come with them. During my time here, I’ve learned to not fear the forest, but respect and admire it. The abyss of green holds dangers, but it also holds more varieties of birds and insects than I could ever imagine. Just as people balance risk, so too does this ecosystem exist in a precious balance between all of the interacting species. Towering trees that try to starve competition of sunlight are eventually overgrown by lianas and other epiphytes. When the tree dies, it rots from the inside out and comes crashing down when the weight of all that lived on it can no longer be held up. Then, enough sunlight reaches the forest floor for a new tree to grow. It forms a balanced cycle.
The vast network of interactions between varieties of life in La Selva are, of course, far more than I could ever understand in my short time there. People have dedicated their whole lives to making sense of and deeply understanding tiny corners of the forest’s diversity. Others study this work thoroughly in order to make it understandable and compelling to people like me who are just passing through.
I’m grateful not just to have spent time in one of the most biodiverse places on earth, but to have spent time with the amazing people that have made that experience possible through their hard work and welcoming kindness.
But, conservation efforts don’t end with the people who live and work in Costa Rica. Just as wildfires in Canada can be detrimental to the air quality of New York, my actions in Indiana can continue to effect the environment of Costa Rica.
Of course, I can’t single handedly save or destroy the tropical rainforests, but I believe our individual actions do matter. Our transportation, food choices, consumption habits, and much more effect the environment locally, globally, and in communities far away from us. During our agriculture unit, we learned that many of the bananas and pineapples we purchase from American grocery stores are grown in Costa Rica with pesticides that are banned from use on our own agriculture. The effects of these pesticides aren’t fully understood, but there is evidence that they can act as endocrine disrupters, changing the hormones and thus development of both people and alloprimates in Costa Rica. They likely effect much more in ways we have yet to understand. Tropical rainforests don’t just have to exist in a balance between the wildlife, but also with people all over the world.
At the same time, conservation and climate change prevention and mitigation aren’t only issues for the most exceptional places in the world. Everyone has to prepare for the climate changes that have already been set in motion. The fact there is air conditioning everywhere I go in Indiana doesn’t mean heat waves won’t be detrimental. The fact that there is less biodiversity in Indiana than Costa Rica doesn’t mean that Hoosier wildlife isn’t worth protecting. Wildfires and their smoke aren’t contained by political borders.
Traveling to another country and learning about a new culture often helps you see your habits in a new way. I imagine that many people who travel through Costa Rica are inspired to make some kind of environmentally conscious change in their life. I believe that my experience at La Selva in contrast with the environmental catastrophe occurring closer to home has given me a deeper understanding of what is at stake and a more lasting commitment to change. There is so much to lose, so much work to be done, and everyone is a part of it.
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