Costa Rica

Eco-tourism

The idea behind ecotourism is to preserve natural resources while also profiting from them by promoting low-impact tourism.  Costa Rica has taken advantage of its well-established system of national parks and protected areas, the rich variety of flora and fauna, as well as its many beaches and several volcanoes to encourage ecotourism.  Since the early 1990s, Costa Rica has come to be known as the poster child for ecotourism.

The country is ranked 44th in the world and first among Latin American countries in the 2008 World Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index.⁵ And, as of 2006, 54% of the international tourists to Costa Rica visited its national parks or protected areas.⁶  Eco-tourism is a key component of the country's economic growth.  Since 1999, tourism has earned more in foreign exchange than the combined exports of the country's three main cash crops: bananas, pineapples and coffee.⁷

Climate change impact

New research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst has indicated that highland forests in Costa Rica could be seriously affected by future changes in climate, reducing the number of species in this region famous for its biodiversity.  Using rainfall and temperature data collected in Central America between 1961 and 1990, a regional climate model was developed by the university's Climate System Research Center.  The  model predicts that many areas of Costa Rica will become warmer and drier as climate change accelerates, and that these changes will be amplified at higher elevations.

Costa Rica begins at sea level on both the western Pacific coast and the eastern Caribbean coast, and rises to over 3,000 meters above sea level in the central mountain range.  Differences in temperature and precipitation caused by elevation create an array of distinct ecosystems stacked on top of each other, each one housing a unique biological community.  As temperatures rise, various ecosystems will try to migrate to where they are comfortable, moving in an upslope direction in this case. As they migrate, plants and animals will disturb other species, and eventually run out of space as they reach the top of the mountains. The result may be a loss of many species that won't be able to survive the new conditions.⁸

National climate change strategy  

Upon taking office in 2006, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias made climate change a top priority of his administration.⁹ The administration developed a National Climate Change Strategy with a clear orientation toward action. There are five inter-dependent strategic components: metrics, mitigation, vulnerability and adaptation, capacity-building, and education, culture and public awareness.

• Metrics. This component is meant to develop an accurate, reliable and verifiable method for monitoring climate scenarios and gas inventories.
• Mitigation. This strategic component is focused on creating a C-neutral country through emissions reduction by source; carbon sink enhancement through reforestation and natural forest regeneration; and carbon markets development at the local and international levels of production.
• Adaptation. This component is based on a set of studies that identify vulnerabilities and design mechanisms to improve in an integrated way the country's economic, societal, environmental and biophysical adaptive capacity. Water resources, health, agriculture, infrastructure, coastal areas, and land and marine biodiversity will be among the key components of the adaptation strategy. The main goal will be to reduce the vulnerability of different sectors and ecosystems.
• Capacity-building. This component is based on the concept that in order for a nation to implement a comprehensive climate change strategy, it is necessary to increase society-wide capacities to respond to climate change.  Capacity-building is also necessary to measure and mitigate climate change causes and to communicate how to adapt to consequences at all levels of society.
• Education - culture and public awareness. This component is based on the belief that in order to combat climate change, people must be informed and re-educated, and need to be active participants in climate change issues. Individual habits and patterns of consumption must be made compatible with climate change imperatives. ¹⁰

Footnotes

¹⁸University of Massachusetts Amherst. "Could Climate Change Impact Costa Rica? New Study Says Yes." ScienceDaily 17 July 2008. 30 January 2009 .

² "Switzerland Tops 2008 Environmental Scorecard at World Economic Forum",Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy / Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University.

³Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy / Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University. " Environmental Performance Index 2008, Metrics for Costa Rica". http://epi.yale.edu/CostaRica 

⁴"Costa Rica Aims to Be a Carbon-Neutral Nation".

 ⁵Jennifer Blanke and Thea Chiesa, Editors (2008) (PDF), The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008, World Economic Forum, Geneva, Switzerland

⁶"Informe de Encuestas IV Trimestre 2006. Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaria" (in Spanish). Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (2006). Retrieved on 2008-06-06. 2006 Annual Survey from the Costa Rican Board of Tourism (ICT),

⁷Departamento de Estadísticas ICT (2006). "Anuário Estadísticas de Demanda 2006" (PDF) (in Spanish). Intituto Costarricense de Turismo. Retrieved on 01-12-2009. Table 44 and 45.

⁹Costa Rica's Commitment on the Path to becoming Carbon-Neutral

¹⁰Climate Change Strategy