Are you planning for Costa Rica vacation, here are our top 5 popular places to visit in Costa Rica for you:

Manuel Antonio National Park

All at one place, the rain forest, the beaches, lagoons, mangroves and the coral reefs, you will find all of these at Manuel Antonio National Park. It is one of the most visited park in Costa Rica. The beaches looks amazing surrounded by beautiful lush green rain forest. It is a great spot for snorkeling as well. It is a small national park established in only 628 hectare area but it is home to 109 species of mammals and 184 species of birds. The park attracts around 150,000 visitors per year.

One of the great way to enjoy the park and it’s amazing vistas is to take a hike. There are guided tours available. You can book the guided tours from any of hotels you  will be staying. The Punta Cathedral on the trail offers one of the most beautiful view. You will also get a chance to see white-faced monkeys and rare squirrel monkeys.

Arenal Volcano National Park

Arenal Volcano National Park is a must see places of Costa Rica. It is one of the world’s most active volcanoes. There are hiking trails here on the already hardened fields of lava where you can see the mighty force of nature from so close. There are guided tours available for such hiking trails and hot springs. While other ways people can enjoy the park is by taking the most famous Sky Tram Canopy Tour.

Rincon de La Vieja National Park

Rincon de La Vieja National Park is the protected National park in Costa Rica with a very diverse ecosystem. It is popularly known for its wide variety of flora and fauna. It is also home to 2 volcanoes namely the Rincon de la Vieja and the Santa Maria. There are 6 different volcanic peaks in the park and 32 rivers and streams.  It is a great place for the adventure lovers. There are waterfalls where you can swim around, warm mud pools, spectacular place for nature photography, a fresh water volcanic lagoons, and trails where you can hike all day long and enjoy the park.

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is a very popular destination in Costa Rica. The unique thing about this place is its cloud canopy after which it has got its name. The Reserve is located just 6 km from town of Santa Elena in the Puntarenas province. It is one of the most breathtaking reserves of the world. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve receives very less rain compared to that of the rain forest, however because of the unique cloud contents, it has very high humidity.

There are several trails available throughout the reserve, you can spend days of hiking with a guide in group or as single. The trails offers amazing views of the spectacular Forest Reserve. Throughout the trail you can enjoy beautiful waterfalls, swamp areas, and other attractions.

Tortuguero National Park

Well, the most adventurous thing about the Tortuguero National Park is that it can be reached only through water on boat or by air. The park has a nesting grounds for Hawksbill, leatherback and green sea turtles, etc. The turtles are the main attraction of the Tortuguero National Park. There are several marked trails where you can go for a hike but you have to watch for the nesting grounds on the way. One of the best way to explore the park is by boat. Don’t worry, there are many places from where you can rent kayaks and canoes.

These monkeys are all orphans, and have been lucky enough to find a home at the Jaguar Rescue Center, in the leafy paradise of Playa Chiquita on the southern Caribbean coast. The few hours they spend in the forest each day are known as “Monkey School” and are part of the wildlife rescue center’s program to gradually reintroduce the energetic animals into their natural habitat.

When the monkeys aren’t in the forest learning to live in the wild, they spend their time eating, pulling on each other’s ears and dozing, all in the comfort and safety of a spacious cage back at the center. They have neighbors, too. The Jaguar Rescue Center is home to a variety of animals in various stages of health. There are birds with clipped wings, squinty-eyed possums nursing machete wounds, a mischievous coati and a baby deer named Xai that follows its caretakers and licks the backs of their legs, happy to find anything salty. There are terrariums full of vipers, and a baby porcupine whose quills make his inquisitive, friendly tendencies pointed indeed.

The owners are the husband-and-wife team of Sandro Alviani, an Italian herpetologist, and Encar García, a Spanish primatologist, who live onsite. They run the center with indispensable help from several full-time employees – most of them locals, all of them animal lovers – and an ever-shifting slew of eager volunteers from all over the globe.

Tired of working in the commercial world of European zoos, the couple found themselves spending more and more time in Costa Rica, and seven years ago they relocated permanently. As their neighbors in Playa Chiquita got to know them, they took note of Alviani and García’s specialized skills and started bringing them animals that needed expert care. Over the course of their first four years in the country, Alviani and García had amassed so many injured, sick and orphaned animals that in 2008 they decided to make their pastime official and open the Jaguar Rescue Center, complete with guided tours for the intrigued public.

“I think the Jaguar Rescue Center was born from this community’s need for a place to take injured animals,” García says.

Electric cables, dogs and cars pose a severe threat to the region’s wildlife, as do people who want to keep wild animals as pets – animals kept as pets are often diseased and malnourished – or illegally sell them to international collectors. García says Costa Rica’s laws regarding wildlife are adequate and that the police are willing to enforce them but lack the proper training and equipment to do so. The authorities in the area regularly confiscate captive animals, and they call on Alviani and García’s expertise when doing so.

The only way the police can know that animals are being kept illegally is for concerned citizens to call and report their neighbors. García notes that people are often hesitant to call, worried that their neighbors will receive harsh punishment or be angry with them for reporting them to the police.

“In reality, it’s not a big deal. You don’t even have to say your name or anything, only that your neighbor has an animal in inhumane conditions,” she says.

For a first offense, the lawbreaker doesn’t even receive a citation, but repeat offenders risk a sentence of up to three years in jail, García adds.

García tells the story of one white-faced capuchin monkey that was kept for four years in a tiny cage in a mechanic’s shop in the nearby town of Bribrí.

“[The monkey] was going crazy because of all the noise, pulling his own hair out,” she says.

His captors never once cleaned his cage, and by the time Alviani and García went with the police to retrieve the monkey, he was highly aggressive. The couple worked with the monkey for months and nursed him back to health. The monkey was finally accepted by a group of wild capuchins.

This is one success story out of more than 400 in which Alviani and García have played a crucial role over the past seven years. They have accomplished much, including the reintroduction of a one-armed kinkajou and the adoption of a baby howler monkey by a reintroduced female that was not its birth mother – a feat formerly unheard of in the world of wildlife rescue centers, García says.

The primatologist knows that psychology plays a major role in successful reintroduction, and that each animal has individual fears based on the unique traumas it has experienced.

“The reintroduction process is different for every species, but also for every individual,” she says. “You’d think that once you find the formula to reintroduce toucans, for example, that all toucans will be the same, but no. You run into surprises, and this is what is so marvelous. Every toucan has its own personality.”

Life at the Jaguar Rescue Center is hectic, and the needs of the animals demand a full schedule with little time for vacations or rest. Just when García and Alviani are dressed, for once, in clothes that aren’t covered in monkey urine and are ready to leave and meet friends for dinner, someone will call to inform the couple that a sloth has been hit by a car or a boa constrictor is winding through their kitchen.

“Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t open a restaurant like everybody else,” García says. “But I think I am very lucky because I get to do what I like to do, so for me it really isn’t a huge sacrifice.”

The Costa Rican government provides no subsidization for the rescue center. All of the money the center needs for animal housing structures, expensive surgeries and medications, and the costs of day-to-day operations comes from tourist entrance fees and private donations. This means that, in addition to contact with the volunteers and workers who look after them, the animals are around tourists every day.

Although it is easy to rationalize that the Jaguar Rescue Center provides a good simulation of animals’ life in nature – they eat as they would or better than they would in the wild and get to climb around in the trees – the truth is that it is not nature at all. Some of the most damaged animals will never be able to return to the wild. Even for the animals that will someday be healthy enough to reclaim their lives in the forest, living for so long surrounded by humans affects them in a profound way.

Perhaps the most difficult part of Alviani and García’s job is finding the balance between humans and animals to provide for the animals’ greatest good. Although some wildlife biologists oppose any and all human interaction with animals, the owners of the Jaguar Rescue Center belong to the opposite camp. García compares baby animals to human babies.

“Contact isn’t a bad thing. Every animal, like every child, needs a different level of affection,” she says.

According to García, a monkey that has had someone to pay attention to it and hold it, like its mother would have done in the wild, will be happy and self-confident, and ultimately more easily reintroduced.

Going There

The Jaguar Rescue Center is in Playa Chiquita, about 6 km south of the beach town of Puerto Viejo on the southern Caribbean coast. Tours are given Monday through Saturday at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., and cost $15 per person.

For those interested in volunteering, the center requires a minimum commitment of three weeks. Those who aren’t afraid to get dirt, and other gross stuff, under their fingernails can apply for a volunteer position via the center’s website.

Donations may also be made through the center’s website; eager donors can “adopt” any number of cute baby animals that need help. For more information, go to http://www.jaguarrescue.com or call 2750-0710.

note: from Tico Times

Manuel Antonio: just another example of one of Costa Rica’s most awesome beaches. Now think about his, walking along bays flanked by ivory sands, emerald waters, and jungles where you can hear and see waterfalls. Drop the Imperial for a few hours – put on a set of fins and face mask and enjoy the sea life. Oh yes, you can also zip line, hike and paddle a kayak, all in one day.

Corcovado: In the Osa Peninsula. Its beaches are ripped with brown sands that are shielded by palm trees. Inland is one of Costa Rica’s eco-zones the Corcovado National Park, which has some of the coolest wildlife in the world. One of the highlights is to take a charter boat ride to Isla del Caño, a diver’s paradise and a archaeological dream to see the Island’s pre-Colombian stone spheres.  It has been established as a protected national park, with a permanent ranger station on the island. Marine life includes manta rays, dolphins, sea turtles, whales, and a wide variety of tropical-colored fish.

Tambor: at one time was inhabited by whales, and since, replaced by travelers. Lazy-arched bays calm the swells and make the waters glassy, a perfect spot to swim, snorkel, scuba drive, and pinch sand between the toes when taking a sunset walk.  Inland you can horseback ride, take a hike, and/or enjoy the quite lifestyle.

Conchal: Located at Nicoya Peninsula – Costa Rica’s largest peninsula (Northern and Southern part) has so many strips of sand; it is truly on one the top beaches in the world. Tourist packed beach cities like Montezuma, Tamarindo, Conchal (pictured on the left) and Mal Pais – to those more remote and relaxing like Playas Hermosa, Samara, Flamingo, Conchal and Playa Grande, lets Nicoya claim ego to its beauty.

Tamarindo: The Mecca of tourism. Lots of dining, bars, shopping, lodging, surfing, diving and other activities you may want to do. Tamarindo’s natural settings will make you forget all the stress you have been carrying! Tamarindo surrounding beaches are the home to the giant leatherback turtles (and others) where they annually climb up the beaches to lay their eggs.

Mal Pais: If you’re not a surfer or sun guru, Mal Pais may not be the beach for you. This is the place where you would be swapping stories about how “Cool I got tubed” However, all it not lost if you don’t like drinking ice cold Imperials while catching a few sun rays. It does have it nature-worshiping areas, which makes this place worthwhile to visit. You can get on a boat tour and take a gander at the areas protected waters. Or jump from the Montezuma waterfalls into crystal clear waters. Or if you are savvy, take the three hour walk through the awesome Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve where you will end up on some isolated beach. Take a mate, and have some fun.

Punta Uva and Montezuma: Located is what many say, “The heart and soul of the Nicoya Peninsula.” Montezuma has become a curious stop of tourists who are enchanted by the beaches’ array of locals. From the braided hair of Rastafarians, to sun scared surfers, to punkers (with all their tattoos and piercing), add to the unique characteristics of this haven. Nature comes together with tall coconut palms lining the shore, waterfalls and the Manzanillo beach bind angered and Scarlet Macaw squawking at jungle tree-tops.

Tortuguero: Blunty putting it, Toruguero on Costa Rica’s Caribbean side is an eco-junkie paradise. With over 20 endangered species in the Tortuguero National Park, eco-junkies are in heaven with its tapirs, ocelots, manatees, and green sea turtles. Tours range from, taking a solo hike or go with a well informed guided safari, or you can be adventurous by paddling up the river in a dugout canoe. Oh yes, you can also sunbath on one of it beaches.

South of Limon:  Like Corcovado, South of Limon, has the Cahuita National Park and Manzanillo just two more eco-zone that Costa Rica sports. It is not uncommon to hear monkey chatter and see them swinging in the trees.  South of Limon takes on the personally of a kick-back Jamaican lifestyle with the beaches to match.  Now head toward Panama and you run into the town of Puerto Viejo. This is probably best known for its mesmerizing sunsets.

Carlos Castillo, of The Cabo Blanco Reserve, and Mark Wainwright, author of The Mammals of Costa Rica A Natural History and Field Guide, both claim that if you look at recent aerial photos of Costa Rica you can see that forests are returning!  This has been accomplished because of the recent establishment of many national parks all throughout Costa Rica which have directly stopped more deforestation from taking place.  Ecotourism has also helped with forest preservation since people see the forests as tourist attractions which are more valuable intact.  Reforestation efforts have also helped with this progress, of course along with the forest’s natural succession.  Sustainable development ideas are becoming popular and hopefully will be a part of all future development in the country.  The awareness and prevalence of environmental issues in the education system is common almost everywhere I go, giving hope for an environmentally ethical future.

In 1958 the government group in charge of tourism appointed a group to study areas that should be preserved as parks.   The reserves and parks of Costa Rica attempt to conserve the numerous habitats that Costa Rica houses.  For example Guanacaste National park was created to conserve volcanic slopes of evergreen and cloud forest habitats, Palo Verde National Park to protect salt marshes, wetlands and mangrove swamps, and Barra Honda National Park to protect its immense cave system.  Guanacaste National Park and Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve are both important land areas for migrant birds and animals.  A few reserves have been created to protect marine life such as the Cahuita Reserve that protects Caribbean coral reef by regulating boating, fishing and tourism.

The first reserve in Costa Rica was started by a Swedish man named Nicolas Wesberg.  He and his wife ended up wanting to settle in a tropical paradise so they moved to the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica.  They soon noticed that the forests were disappearing rapidly because the president was encouraging people to cut forests to make room for cattle pastures which would increase the foreign economy of the country, so Nicolas took it upon himself to get some land preserved.  He wrote thousands of letters to the President of Costa Rica at the time, trying to persuade him to preserve land on the Nicoya Peninsula.  Finally he convinced the president and they conserved 1,072hectares of land called The  Cabo Blanco Absolute Reserve in 1963.

Another reserve was started by a Swedish school teacher and many students around the world.  When Eha Kern was teaching her students about tropical rainforests during the late 80s they wanted to help save them after seeing so many documentaries end in their destruction.  The children in Sweden did fundraising and after the first year they came up with $100,000; soon 44 countries were involved, and eventually 54,000acres of Costa Rican cloud forest was preserved and called The Children’s Eternal Rainforest.  It is now the largest private reserve in Costa Rica.

Ecotourism and the idea of intact forests as financially valuable compared to agricultural land,  helped push the national parks and preserves in a positive direction.  Ecotourism is a great way to attract tourists to come see the wildlife, nature and culture of a country with the least amount of impact on the local environment.  Since its start, ecotourism has grown to encompass education tourism, adventure tourism, and now even main stream tourism.  Large resorts have popped up along the coasts and in the rainforests.  I guess the effects of the large resorts don’t quite yet counter balance the wonders that ecotourism has done for Costa Rica’s environment and lets hope they don’t in the future.  Costa Rica should continue to encourage ecotourism and educate its visitors about its conservation and natural history.

Costa Rica is full of National Parks, biodiversity and smiling faces. Sure, I’ve seen all these, but I´ve also seen as we cruise from park to preserve; fields of agriculture, bare pasture, and lone trees. The neotropics has a long history of deforestation and Costa Rica is no exception. Costa Rica has an interesting story though, a story full of foreign influence, 50 years without military, and currently strong environmental ethics. By 1983 86% of Costa Rica´s forests were gone. Costa Rica, now a fairly developed nation, had to go through mass destruction and exploitation of their land to reach their current state. It is much too common for countries to degrade their land in order to develop in the world economically and socially. Fortunately, Costa Rica has acquired a solid environmental awareness and since then the forests have begun to come back. Will the conservation efforts, national parks, ecotourism, and ideas of sustainability hold strong, or will they succumb to the recent switch to development, resort tourism and CAFTA (known here as TLC-Try to kill Latin Countries, which I see sprayed on walls often). I can only hope that Costa Rica will lead the way in the world proving a good example of a country that exists without a military and with a high value of its natural environment.

In order to understand where Costa Rica is today and where it is going environmentally, we must first understand where it has been politically and socially. Costa Rica was discovered by Columbus in 1502 with an approximate indigenous population of 400,000. From what I´ve heard the indigenous culture is practically gone in Costa Rica, as I can see clearly in comparison to the high indigenous population of neighboring Panama. Fast forwarding, Costa Rica gained its independence in 1824 and the first head of state Juan Mora Fernandez began the first newspaper, expanded public education, and created the judicial system. Next came Braulio Carrillo who gave free land to people to encourage coffee cultivation which eventually became an enormous part of the economy. During the 1880s liberal governments reined separating church and state, making education free and mandatory, allowing divorce and eliminating the death penalty. Costa Rica wanted to build a railroad connecting the Pacific to the Caribbean so they enlisted an American named Minor Keith to fund and support the construction. Minor Keith planted bananas on the side of the railway to feed his workers and soon found that he could make a profit selling bananas to Europe and the states so in 1899 he established the United Fruit Company. During the 1900s the US had a huge impact on Costa Rica while the canal was being built. From 1940-1944 Rafael Calderon was president and he introduced various social reforms to relieve poverty such as minimum wage, social security, and state universities. Calderon lost the elections in 1948 but used his congressional influence to regain power. Jose ´Pepe´ Figueres, a political figure, was not down with this so he waged the largest civil war the country was ever to know, ending with 2000 deaths, most of which were civilians. Pepe beat Calderon and stayed in power for 18months. During this time Pepe abolished the military, thus making Costa Rica the only country in the world without a military, and since they weren’t spending so much money on military upkeep they were able to invest in more social and economic growth. While in power Pepe also nationalized banks and insurance companies, and gave blacks and women the right to citizenship and the right to vote. Since then Costa Rica has been through many peaceful political switch overs,  democratically electing a new president every four years.

Coffee production began in the late 1700s and it was perfect for Costa Rica because the plant needs mid elevation mountains and loves volcanic soils both of which Costa Rica has plenty of. Coffee accounted for 90% of Costa Rica’s economy at one point, bringing in the dough. Coffee harvesting and production requires ample amounts of workers so has been a positive industry in creating jobs. Recently people have been noticing coffee plants flowering a bit too early in the season. This could be an effect of the current climate chaos that is upon us and nobody knows yet how it will effect to coffee industry.  Currently the forest ecosystem that coffee grows best in is in danger, there isn’t much mid-elevation rainforest left.  This is a prime example of how one industry can have huge effects on an ecosystem.

Moving on to bananas, which might be my least favorite of the crops in Costa Rica.  As I mentioned earlier Minor Keith started the banana boom, began the United Fruit Company, exported tons of bananas and people were hooked. Back in those days the bananas would deplete the soils of their nutrients quickly so after a few years of production, they move down a bit and start a new field. Bananas account for the majority of lost lowland rainforests of Costa Rica. In large monocultures the ground of the plantation is kept clear of leaves and weeds and instead covered in white powdery fertilizer, that easily runs off into the streams. People know, and now I do too, that you don´t drink from streams or rivers near banana plantations. The bananas themselves are often seen covered in blue plastic bags and the bags are filled with pesticides, 280 which are authorized for use on bananas, 5 of which are deemed “extremely hazardous” by the World Health Organization. The pesticides in the bags are used to keep insects away and to make the fruits ripen quickly. The bags are an issue in themselves as they blow into streams, sometimes suffocating wildlife. There have been issues with the effects of the pesticides on the farmers themselves and there have been many lawsuits over this. Tissue damage, sterility, and birth defects are some symptoms and the right to acceptable working conditions that is protected under the Declaration of Human Rights unfortunately does not apply to toxic chemicals. Dow Chemicals is involved and many wars have been raged over this issue, which I don’t know enough to elaborate on. Low wages, no union, and an unregulated workforce all coexist with bananas. Some bananas have been certified as Fair Trade but are probably not, the owners probably just checked off the boxes, and the conditions are probably still horrible for the workers. Bananas have caused extreme long term ecological and social damage to Costa Rica and I believe more work needs to be done to change the industry in reply to both human and environmental injustice.

Another big stress on Costa Rica’s environment is cattle pastures, which seem to be one of the most common mono-cultures I´ve passed. Often scattered cows and egrets graze but many pastures are left deserted during the dry season because grass doesn´t grow enough to feed the cows, making this a fairly unproductive industry, not to mention that it doesn‘t create many jobs since only a few ranchers are needed for a whole lot of cattle. The cattle industry began to get big in the 1960s and by 1975 there were about as many cows as there were people. This one doesn’t need to much explanation for why it is so bad for the environment, we all know what barren dry fields of grass, with no shade, and scraggly cows grazing looks like.  Much of the beef from the cattle went and still goes to the US to make fast food burgers and cat food.  In Guanacaste, an area in the northwest of Costa Rica, the conversion of forest to pasture has caused massive droughts and change in the local climate. By 1994 2/3 of all the agricultural land was cattle pasture which astonishingly means that 40% of Costa Rica´s land is pasture! Sadly, I don’t know the exact percent for how much forest is left to compare but I´d bet its only about 10% if not less.  These areas are extremely hard to restore to forest because the grass used for the cows is an invasive species that loves to smother young trees.

A few other troublesome industries, smaller in my eyes based on the amount that I´ve seen, are oil palms, house plants, and pineapples. Oil palms are planted in dark creepy rows mainly in southern Costa Rica. The oil from the palms is used in so many things we would never think of like makeup, soap, and is currently an option for bio-fuel. The effects of the deforestation caused by oil palm plantations counter acts the benefits that are gained by switching to bio-fuel. Houseplants, I had never thought about this one before, are grown in Costa Rica. They are often shipped to Canada, the US, and Europe. Sometimes even just the bright green leaves are shipped for floral arrangements. These plants are laden with pesticides because they have to be immaculate when they arrive if any westerners are going to buy them. A guy that used to work on the plantations said that sometimes they would ship lots of plants and never get paid because the receiving end would claim that they had never received them or they had received them damaged. The pressure western countries put on foreign industries to produce perfect spotless plants and fruits therefore needing to use barrels of pesticides is ridiculous. Another big industry you might have heard of is Dole Pineapples. I´ve seen a few pineapple plantations packed with the spiky plants along my journey, no doubt laden with pesticides that leak into the nearby streams.

On the bus ride from San Jose to the port town of Limon on the Caribbean coast we passed large truck loading zones. Hundreds of thousands of truck containers were waiting to be filled and when we reached the ocean front at least seven big cargo ships were all loaded. I heard that one of those ships can carry 1,800 truck containers! A friend and I counted one day when passing the Panama Canal and found it to be about right.  The amount of produce that the United States gets from Costa Rica is immense.  I went into a thrift store in a small beach town and the clothes were organized in Chiquita Banana, Dole Pineapple, and Del Monte boxes. The presence of these corporations and mono-cultures is hard to miss.

The point I´m trying to get at is that if Costa Rica was only producing food for themselves, they would probably not have had to decimate their land to the extent that they did. A large percentage of the demand comes from the US since we are such a demanding, needy country. The amount of damage that the US has had on such a small, beautiful, naturally rich country is disheartening to see and one can only imagine the damage the US has had on the many other countries we import from world wide. I know its not always fun to do, but next time you´re in the supermarket picking out fruit, think about where it was grown, how far it traveled to reach your local store, who sprayed it with chemicals, what streams those chemicals polluted, and what was the forest like before it was chopped down to grow food for western countries.  Contemplate the history of your food not just the price.  Try your best to support local grown food, from farms in your own state.  Eat seasonal food, buy organic non pesticide food, and if you do buy imported tropical fruits see if you can find any that have a Fair Trade Certified sticker on them and support the new fair trade movement that is growing.

The environmental movement in Costa Rica

Miraculously, after all the deforestation, Costa Rica has seemed to have reached a state of environmental enlightenment. Most of the forests that do remain have been preserved as National Parks, reserves, or wildlife refuges and the numbers are increasing. The awareness of environmental issues among Costa Ricans is astounding and children are often taught about conservation in primary schools. There is a large amount of habitat restoration, species conservation, and sustainability projects emerging from all directions throughout the country. The Organic Agriculture National Program was started in 1994 to promote organic farming practices and Costa Rica seems to be on a role, working hard for their environment!
Carlos Castillo, of The Cabo Blanco Reserve, and Mark Wainwright, author of The Mammals of Costa Rica: A Natural History and Field Guide, both claim that if you look at recent aerial photos of Costa Rica you can see that forests are truly returning. This has been accomplished because of the recent establishment of many national parks all throughout Costa Rica which have directly stopped more deforestation from taking place. Ecotourism has also helped with forest preservation since people see the forests as tourist attractions which are more valuable intact. Reforestation efforts have also helped with this progress, of course, along with the forests natural succession that is often rapid in the tropics. Sustainable developement ideas are becoming popular and hopefully will be a part of all future development in the country. The awareness and prevalence of environmental issues in public education is common almost everywhere you go, giving hope for an environmentally ethical future.

In 1958 the government group in charge of tourism appointed a group to study areas that should be preserved as national parks. The reserves and parks of Costa Rica strive to conserve the numerous habitats that Costa Rica houses. For example Guanacaste National Park was created to conserve volcanic slopes of evergreen and cloud forest habitats, Palo Verde National Park to protect salt marshes, wetlands and mangrove swamps, and Barro Honda National Park to protect its immense cave system. Guanacaste National Park and Lomas Barbudal Biological Reserve are both important land areas for migratorial birds and animals. A few reserves have been created to protect marine life such as the Cahuita Reserve that protects a part of the Caribbean coral reef by regulating boating and fishing. The national park system is large and still growing, the economic value it brings from tourism is plenty and the value it puts on biologically diverse habitats is irreplaceable.

The first reserve in Costa Rica was started by a Swedish man named Nicolas Wesberg. He and his wife moved from Europe to the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. They soon noticed that the forests were disappearing rapidly partly because the president at the time was encouraging people to cut forests for cattle pastures to increase the foreign economy of the country, so Nicolas took it upon himself to get the land preserved. He wrote thousands of letters to the president trying to persuade him to preserve land on the Nicoya Peninsula. Finally, he convinced the president and in 1963 they conserved 1,072hectares of land called The Cabo Blanco Absolute Reserve.

I don’t know what the pattern is with people from Sweden helping Costa Rica but another reserve was started by a Swedish school teacher, her students and many other students from around the world. When Eha Kern was teaching her students about tropical rainforests during the late 80s they wanted to help save them after watching so many documentaries that ended in their destruction. The children in Sweden did so much fundraising that after the first year they had come up with $100,000; soon 44 countries were involved, and eventually 54,000acres of Costa Rican cloud forest was preserved and dubbed The Children´ Eternal Rainforest. It is now the largest private reserve in Costa Rica and neighbors the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.  Those are just two stories on how two reserves were started; strange they were both from Sweden, but not too strange that they were foreigners; foreigners have had an extremely beneficial role in the environmental movement of Costa Rica.

Ecotourism and the idea of intact forests as financially valuable compared to agricultural land, helped push the national parks and preserves along. Ecotourism is a great way to attract tourists to come see the wildlife, nature and culture of a country with the least amount of impact on the local environment. Since its start ecotourism has grown to encompass education tourism, adventure tourism, and now even main stream tourism. Large resorts have popped up along the coasts and in the rainforests. I guess the effects of the large resorts dont quite yet counter balance the wonders that ecotourism has done for Costa Rica´s environment and lets hope it doesnt in the future. Costa Rica should continue to encourage ecotourism and educate its visitors about its conservation and natural history.

I mentioned about coffee leading to the extreme rarity of mid elevation forests, only 2% of these forests are left. Deborah Hamilton is working on this project, but with a more specific initiative than just bringing back the forests. Deborah wants to bring back the Three Wattled Bell Bird of which only 3 known populations are left, 2 in Costa Rica and one in Nicaragua. Deb and her small team grow trees with fruit that bell birds, and other birds such as Quetzals, will eat. They give away the young trees for free to anyone that wants them in the area. Its tough growing for the trees, only 30% survive, since the grass that was planted for cattle is extremely good at spreading and shading young trees. Deborah and 7 other organizations are involved in a corridor reforestation project that will connect the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve to the protected zone of Cuenca del Rio Abangares in Guanacaste. This corridor is extremely important for birds like the Quetzal that will not fly over open land, only through thick forest cover.  Deb is again only one person doing a large amount of work, trying her hardest to bring back forests, in turn bringing back one bird, and in turn bringing back all the life that comes along with pristine forest ecosystems.

Ecotourism is defined as visiting a country to explore the untouched natural surroundings while leaving little to no environmental impact. While ecotourism is known for its environmental protection efforts, it also provides a larger benefit to Costa Rica by providing government funding that keeps the country’s national parks beautiful, pristine and well-managed. Costa Rica is a country that encourages sustainability and thrives on ecotourism, providing tax benefits to people who open eco-friendly businesses. Costa Rican ecotourism helps sustain local communities, funds the continued preservation of the national parks, and enables the country to continue its healthy economic development.

Some of the more popular forms of Costa Rica ecotourism travel include stunning nature hikes, rare bird watching and athletic adventures such as kayaking and biking. Costa Rica’s ecotourism also includes unique conservation vacations, a growing trend in Costa Rica thanks to increasing foreign awareness of the troubles faced by the country’s beautiful indigenous wildlife. One species receiving a lot of attention lately is Costa Rica’s leatherback sea turtles, majestic gentle giants who are hovering on the brink of extinction. Since the rich Costa Rican coast offers a safe nesting habitat for the sea turtles, many ecotourism groups have created conservation vacations where eco-minded tourists can play an important role in aiding the preservation of the sea turtle population.

Tourists planning to partake in Costa Rica ecotourism should keep a few rules in mind while traveling. Most importantly, remember that the goal of ecotourism is to avoid impacting the country’s natural beauty and biodiversity. This means avoiding the introduction of any non-native plants, fruits, or food, properly disposing of all trash, and not taking anything with you from your travels (save for your memories and gorgeous pictures to wow your friends and family with back home). Preserving the beauty of Costa Rica through green ecotourism will go a long ways toward maintaining its majestic appearance for future generations.