A scorecard on sustainable tourism recently published by National Geographic Traveler Magazine gave Costa Rica what it called a “surprisingly mediocre score,” pointing to widespread deforestation and “poor tourism management” as factors affecting the country’s rating.
The 115 locations analyzed by the report varied widely in scope – from tourism centers to entire countries. The locations were divided into three categories: The Good, The Not So Bad, and The Getting Ugly. Costa Rica fell among The Not So Bad – scoring 64 of a possible 100 points.
To compile the scores, which the magazine calls “the world’s first Index of Destination Stewardship,” personnel from Traveler worked with National Geographic’s Sustainable Tourism Initiative and graduate students from Leeds Metropolitan University in England to “conduct a complex survey of over 200 specialists in sustainable tourism and destination quality.”
The report comes as Costa Rica, once known solely for eco-tourism, wrestles with whether to try to continue along that path or give in to more typical mass tourism and open additional large, upscale hotels with beach access. “We have the reality that people come here for a kind of tourism that could be called generic – big hotels, sun and beaches,” said William Rodríguez, president of the National Tourism Association (CANATUR). The report supports his assertion, stating that Costa Rica has “too many golf courses and large hotels in the past five years and on the drawing boards.”
However, Costa Rica’s national parks and protected areas are still the main tourist attractions, Rodríguez said, and as such, the deforestation problem likely is having a negative impact on the industry. “Any environmental problem that affects protected areas is going to affect tourism traffic,” he said. “You’re talking about the prime material the country uses to support the tourism industry.”
Roberto Morales, president of the Costa Rican Association of Professionals in Tourism (ACOPROT), said deforestation is only one of many factors that should be taken into account when considering the sustainability of a country, and that it is not a problem Costa Rica faces alone. “I believe (deforestation) is a problem on a Latin American level,” Morales said. “I’d be interested to see what Panama’s rating is.” Panama, however, was not included in the National Geographic Traveler scorecard. Morales also said statistics do not show that Costa Rica has been inundated with large hotels – 70% of the hotels in the country have fewer than 40 rooms, he said.
A joint effort on the part of the Regional Environmental Program for Central America (PROARCA), the Rainforest Alliance, and the World Wildlife Fund hopes to help curb unsustainable tourism practices in the country by producing a small model of sustainability. The organizations are working with communities from Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean zone south to the Panamanian province of Bocas del Toro to educate those subsisting on the tourism industry about sustainable practices, with the hope of expanding the program in the future. The effort has had significant response, with 35 hotels in that area now certified as environmentally sustainable. To become certified, hotel owners must attend a series of workshops teaching them how to conserve water and electricity – among other things – and then be inspected by Rainforest Alliance team members.
“SOME hotels are independently practicing sustainability. Others need more guidance,” said Ronald Fanabrea, regional director for sustainable tourism for Rainforest Alliance. Casa Verde, a hotel in Puerto Viejo, has received the program’s stamp of approval. Carolina Jiménez owns the hotel, which literally translated means “Green House.” Jiménez said she has been involved in helping the community organize to resist plans proposed by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) to displace local residents for large-scale hotel projects. “(ICT) showed up with a plan ready, without taking into account the opinions of the people,” Jiménez said. She said the entire community is “green-minded” and stands in staunch opposition to projects that would result in over-development and ruin the pristine natural beauty of the area. For example, she said, community members voted to ban four-wheelers on the beach and jet-skis in the water.
Guillermo Masís, administrator of the nearby Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, said requests for tourist concessions that are “too big” are rejected. Tour guides working around the refuge said they readily pass on their expertise about area wildlife to community members. “Kids come to me and say ‘Rickie, I want to go with you and be a guide,’” said Alric Lewis, a guide, using his nickname to refer to himself. “I say, ‘Let’s go ask mami and papi.’ If mami and papi say it’s ok, then they come with us.” In this fashion, he said, 13- and 14-year-old children are able to become experts on the area wildlife and feel a personal obligation to protect it. If the children are able to pass a test, they are permitted to take groups of adults through the refuge on tours.
Lewis said area guides hope that through this education and by involving themselves in the community, they can increase a general feeling of need to conserve the area’s beauty. ONE of the guide’s efforts was to build a bridge for residents who had to cross a snake-infested bog to get to the road leading to town. Two people had been bitten just before the bridge was built, he and other guides said. One was 18 and spent months in the hospital after being bitten by a fer-de-lance, and another man spent weeks recovering from an eyelash viper bite. Both are lucky to be alive, Lewis said – a bite from either snake can often result in death.
Puerto Viejo also has one of the most successful community-run recycling programs in the country, supported by the regional sustainability program. Rachel Thomas, president of the Caribbean Association of Recycling, said her organization shipped more than 20 tons of recyclables to be processed in San José last year. Morales, of ACOPROT, said these kinds of local community sustainable tourism efforts can spare the country from the kind of damage that may have resulted in Costa Rica’s “mediocre” rating in the National Geographic Report. “Sustainable tourism can serve as a weapon to counteract deforestation, as well as other environmental damage,” Morales said.
