Coming to Costa Rica, I hoped to learn about the social and economic systems that exacerbate ecological crises such as climate change. This week, I began to consider how ecotourism may reinforce these oppressive systems. The alleged benefits of ecotourism are quite obvious— jobs are provided for the local community, and foreigners are educated about local ecology and culture. My experiences throughout this week have uncovered the understated negatives of ecotourism. Although I have the privilege as an American college student to benefit from ecotourism, namely through education, I can’t deny the harm that ecotourism may cause for local communities and the countries affected. In this blog post, I’ll go through my week through the lens of evaluating the beneficial and negative impacts of ecotourism. I hope that my accounts may encourage other people to critically evaluate the differences between ecotourism in theory and ecotourism in practice.
Monday, May 30, 2022
During the morning, the class attended a pineapple farm tour. The farm we visited was 100% certified organic. The only technicality preventing the farm from being 100% organic was that it used gaseous ethylene to fasten the natural process of pineapple production. Ethylene is the natural chemical that pineapples produce when stressed which induces the plant to devote energy to fruit production. In addition, the farm had both sustainable and unsustainable practices. The farm was sustainable to an extent because it did not use pesticides, herbicides, or unnatural fertilizers. Instead, the farm utilized naturally and locally sourced compost and fertilizer. The farm was unsustainable to an extent because it utilized a monoculture system, as only one variety of pineapple was planted for the whole area of the farm. In summary, I learned a wealth of information about the cultivation of pineapples and agriculture as a whole. Education is one benefit of ecotourism that I experienced throughout the week.
At night, Professor Libby had a lecture about the connections between capitalism, the pressure to globalize, and ecological crises such as climate change, deforestation, and species extinction. Libby argued that Global North countries play a central role in pressuring Costa Rica into using land for large monocultures. This is because the Global North gave out loans to countries in the Global South that were looking to modernize during the 1970s. Oftentimes, countries were coerced or deceived into thinking that the loans were more necessary or beneficial than they actually were. Costa Rica was not able to pay back their loans. As Costa Rica became indebted to the Global North, the International Monetary Fund set conditions by which Costa Rica had to develop. Specifically, the IMF recommended that Costa Rica liberalize their economy and mass produce crops for export. The US plays an especially critical role in incentivizing monocultures through the practice of commodity dumping, where the US subsidizes commodity crops like corn so they can be sold in the Global South for less than market prices. This effectively pushes small farmers out of business and in turn makes the whole country dependent on importing cheap crops while exporting easily mass produced crops to stay afloat. This lecture was the first to critically engage with the global system, namely free trade capitalism, that incentivizes companies to extract natural resources for profit at the cost of the environment and local people. As I would learn later, this system may manifest its negative impacts through the practice of ecotourism.
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
On this day, the class visited a banana plantation. Once more, I was able to learn about ecology and sustainable farming practices as an ecotourist. This farm in particular was far more sustainable than the farm I had visited on Monday. In addition to abstaining from pesticide and herbicide use, the farm incorporated a polyculture. 12 varieties of bananas and plantains were grown in rows. Furthermore, in between plants, other plants were planted that supported the banana plants’ growth, including cilantro, citronella, cassavas, basil, various flowers, and more.
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
On this day, the class visited the publicly owned national park. This park covered many waterways and nearby rainforests. Visitors are able to see aquatic animals including basilisks, caimans, and turtles, in addition to many species of birds.
The park is best accessed by boat. As part of our tour, the class’s boat docked at an island. We were situated at a large gift shop. This is where I first experienced the gross inequalities between the treatment of ecotourists and the treatment of local people. The island was dominated by a single street spanning many blocks. Walking to the right of the gift shop, the street was lined with brightly decorated restaurants, gift shops, and drink vendors. If one were to walk past all the restaurants, you would see a starkly contrasting residential area— duller colors, fewer similar amenities, and comparatively smaller and more compact buildings. To the left of the gift shop, there was a sprawling resort or hotel catered for tourists. Much of the land was not occupied by the hotel building itself but was instead unoccupied grass or lawn area. It was quite clear that the town prioritized the well-being of foreign visitors much more than the well-being of local residents. Finally, if one were to walk straight past the gift shop, one would find an expansive beach. To get to the beach, you’d have to walk past a school. Blue tape was attached between the supporting beams of the school which effectively separated tourists from school children. As we walked by, some members of the class took pictures of the children. It was as if the school was purposely placed along the route for display to visitors.
To me, this island uncovered ecotourism’s understated negative impacts— the dependence on foreigners for revenue, the dehumanization of locals, and the erasure of culture and sovereignty. The whole town was unabashedly organized to cater to the interests of foreigners.
Thursday, June 2, 2022
On this day, the class visited a privately owned protected park. The class went on a cacao and bat tour. Once more, our privilege as visiting ecotourists enabled us to learn about local ecology. We learned about the history of cacao cultivation and the ecological importance of bats. However, our educational experience was also clearly molded to appeal to a foreign audience. When learning about cacao plants, the tour guides started the history of cacao cultivation at the 16th century after Spanish conquest. This effectively erased the historical significance that indigenous communities contributed to cacao cultivation. One of the references made to indigenous communities was a caricature that indigenous people would bash open cacao plants using their heads. When learning about bats, our tour guides brought out five bats and stretched out their wingspans by hand. A few of the bats audibly and visibly struggled. When asked whether this practice hurt the bats, one of the guides responded by saying “only a little.” This display of the wild animals clearly catered to the amusement of visiting tourists.
Friday, June 3, 2022
On this day, the class visited a hot springs resort. The resort was made up of many pools that were naturally heated using geothermal heat. Poolside bars and restaurants were strewn throughout the resort. Overall, the resort itself was quite lavish and over the top. My classmates and I had the privilege to enjoy the amenities offered. The existence of such a resort could be seen as a positive or a negative. On one hand, the influx of tourists encourages the development of high quality amenities. On the other hand, resources are being devoted away from local communities to private businesses catering to tourists’ experiences.
Saturday, June 4, 2022
On this day, the class visited a privately owned park, took a complimentary tour, and visited a self-sufficient ecotourist resort. As a result of the tour, I was able to learn about the ecology of Costa Rica’s rainforests at high altitudes. I especially learned about animals that occupied the arboreal region of rainforests. For instance, I saw an eyelash pit viper curled up in the branches of a tree that would be difficult to see from the ground. In addition, I saw many cecropia trees, an important pioneer species.
The tour of the ecotourist site offered one pathway to sustainable development, namely the free market approach. The site was a sustainable and self-sufficient hotel and ecotourist resort, as it generates all of its own energy through hydroelectric power and produces most of its own food through farming. The site is a product of a large investment by a foreigner. The founder advocates for green consumption. This mode of sustainable development may leave out those in poverty from realizing its benefits, as sustainability and a clean environment would only be accessible to those who can afford it.
Conclusion and discussion
In summary, this week offered a snapshot of the benefits and costs of ecotourism. The benefits include education for foreign visitors and jobs for the local people. The disadvantages include the dependence on foreigners for revenue, the dehumanization of locals, and the erasure of culture and sovereignty.
The dependence on foreigners for revenue may occur because locals are incentivized to cater their business or lifestyles to the influx of foreigners. Those who don’t are not able to compete. Over time, most businesses will have to cater to foreigners. When there is a shortage in the influx of foreigners, ecotourism focused businesses suffer.
The dehumanization of locals may occur because local communities are turned into a spectacle for profit. Locals are set up to become subservient to visiting tourists. They service tourists and act to the expectations of tourists. In this way, the erasure of culture and sovereignty is a byproduct of this effect, as the interests of foreigners are prioritized over the interests of locals. In the worst case, locals may be pushed out to build facilities catering to foreigners.
With these disadvantages, some could argue that ecotourism is just another manifestation of imperialism. It is another way for Global North countries to set conditions on how Global South countries are to develop their economies and societies. As I have more first hand experiences with ecotourism and read more research on the topic, it may become more clear what ecotourism in practice implements versus what it is stated to achieve.
