greetings from paradise !!!
i appreciate your concern about negative impact from too much tourism in Cabuya, and your appreciation of our efforts at conservation in our area.
my reply is very long, but important, so i hope you take the time to read it all.
EcoTourism = travelling to places for the purpose of experiencing & observing wildlife in their natural habitat.
Conservationists & the public in general (in developed countries worldwide) understand the urgent need to protect & conserve the wilderness areas remaining on our planet.
In general, people are more aware of global environmental issues nowadays, and would like to be part of the solution, not contributors to the decline & eventual disappearance of wildlife & wilderness areas.
Ecotourists yearn to contribute significantly & personally to efforts to save wilderness, especially in the areas they visit to appreciate the biodiversity.
Ecotourism & Conservation work together for the same goal : the salvation of the remaining wilderness on mother earth.
Ecotourism & the preservation of wildlife habitat are compatible goals.
Example : Kenya´s policies on wilderness management are an excellent example of ecotourism & conservation efforts accomplishing a shared goal.
Without ecotourism, Kenya´s diverse wildlife would have dissappeared decades ago.
In Costa Rica, in just the last decade, tourism has replaced banana & coffee exports as the leading source of income for the nation.
Costa Rica receives over half a million tourists annually.
The fact that over 300,000 out of 500,000 tourists visit the national parks of Costa Rica is a clear indication that the majority of tourists visiting Costa Rica are "ecotourists".
How does this rather recent flood of tourism affect the nationals on a local level ?
I explained in Rainsong´s entry questions that Cabuya was never exploited for traditional tourism (beach resorts) due to its rocky shoreline. Locals had to travel or live outside Cabuya to find steady work in order to provide for their families.
The only other options were fishing, hunting, or logging.
The construction of a bridge over Rio Lajas (only 15 years ago) opened up the area to ordinary car traffic. Shortly after the Rio Lajas bridge was built, a Cabuya family established a bus service to Montezuma. Having a regular bus service facilitated greatly people´s ability to travel to work.
Still, traditional tourist projects never developed in Cabuya.
The only attraction in Cabuya was the national park Cabo Blanco. But due to continued heavy poaching in the park, the majority of visitors to the park complained that they didn´t see any animals on their treks there.
In Costa Rica, in areas where ecotourism & conservation were diligently applied & developed, the exhaustion of natural resources thru poaching & logging has been slowed, stopped, & even reversed.
The best example in Costa Rica of this reversal of wilderness depletion is the Monteverde/Santa Elena area.
The consciousness of the local residents has changed. They now realize that the animals alive in their natural habitat are worth much more, & bring a constant revenue that isn´t depleted, than their worth dead as bushmeat, or captured for the illicit pet trade.
Same for the forests that house the animals. They provide a constant attraction for ecotourism $´s, in contrast to their value as logged lumber.
Once the locals understand this correlation, the battle is won !!!
They then become allies in protecting the very animals & forests that before they traditionally plundered.
Poaching & deforestation are serious threats to the future of wilderness in Costa Rica.
Altho it´s almost unbelievable, Costa Rica has one of the highest rates of deforestation in Central America, and the world.
The World Resources Institute ranks Costa Rica fourth among the world´s nations in rate of deforestation.
Rainsong is striving thru Conservation Education and community outreach programs to elevate the consciousness of the locals in Cabuya til they can appreciate this fact :
The animals & forests are worth more alive than dead.
The ecotourism attracted to Rainsong (volunteers & visitors) is providing economic opportunities for Cabuyan residents. Many locals have expressed their appreciation of this fact, and their support for our projects.
We still face serious challenges locally in our conservation efforts.
Yet, we strive to maintain a hopeful attitude when confronting obstacles caused by ignorance, apathy, and out-dated traditional mentality.
"The earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth." Chief Seattle
Time is running out, in Cabuya, in Costa Rica, in the world.
Those of us who care, and want to change the destiny of our planet must take action NOW !!! Before it´s too late.
We invite all fellow planetary guardians to join us in our labor of love to save mother earth !!!
happy trails,
mary at rainsong
_____________________________________________________________________
we have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand ~ and melting like a snowflake.
This is a great project with great passion behind it. I just have one question about tourism growth in Cabuya. You mention the growth of tourism related businesses. This is great and very healthy. Do you have an idea of what may be too much growth or too rapid a growth pattern. Too much tourism for the community sometimes may be worse than no tourism development at all. Cabuya may be a long way off from too much tourism, but you may want to begin to think about it.
Comentarios
greetings from paradise !!!
i appreciate your concern about negative impact from too much tourism in Cabuya, and your appreciation of our efforts at conservation in our area.
my reply is very long, but important, so i hope you take the time to read it all.
EcoTourism = travelling to places for the purpose of experiencing & observing wildlife in their natural habitat.
Conservationists & the public in general (in developed countries worldwide) understand the urgent need to protect & conserve the wilderness areas remaining on our planet.
In general, people are more aware of global environmental issues nowadays, and would like to be part of the solution, not contributors to the decline & eventual disappearance of wildlife & wilderness areas.
Ecotourists yearn to contribute significantly & personally to efforts to save wilderness, especially in the areas they visit to appreciate the biodiversity.
Ecotourism & Conservation work together for the same goal : the salvation of the remaining wilderness on mother earth.
Ecotourism & the preservation of wildlife habitat are compatible goals.
Example : Kenya´s policies on wilderness management are an excellent example of ecotourism & conservation efforts accomplishing a shared goal.
Without ecotourism, Kenya´s diverse wildlife would have dissappeared decades ago.
In Costa Rica, in just the last decade, tourism has replaced banana & coffee exports as the leading source of income for the nation.
Costa Rica receives over half a million tourists annually.
The fact that over 300,000 out of 500,000 tourists visit the national parks of Costa Rica is a clear indication that the majority of tourists visiting Costa Rica are "ecotourists".
How does this rather recent flood of tourism affect the nationals on a local level ?
I explained in Rainsong´s entry questions that Cabuya was never exploited for traditional tourism (beach resorts) due to its rocky shoreline. Locals had to travel or live outside Cabuya to find steady work in order to provide for their families.
The only other options were fishing, hunting, or logging.
The construction of a bridge over Rio Lajas (only 15 years ago) opened up the area to ordinary car traffic. Shortly after the Rio Lajas bridge was built, a Cabuya family established a bus service to Montezuma. Having a regular bus service facilitated greatly people´s ability to travel to work.
Still, traditional tourist projects never developed in Cabuya.
The only attraction in Cabuya was the national park Cabo Blanco. But due to continued heavy poaching in the park, the majority of visitors to the park complained that they didn´t see any animals on their treks there.
In Costa Rica, in areas where ecotourism & conservation were diligently applied & developed, the exhaustion of natural resources thru poaching & logging has been slowed, stopped, & even reversed.
The best example in Costa Rica of this reversal of wilderness depletion is the Monteverde/Santa Elena area.
The consciousness of the local residents has changed. They now realize that the animals alive in their natural habitat are worth much more, & bring a constant revenue that isn´t depleted, than their worth dead as bushmeat, or captured for the illicit pet trade.
Same for the forests that house the animals. They provide a constant attraction for ecotourism $´s, in contrast to their value as logged lumber.
Once the locals understand this correlation, the battle is won !!!
They then become allies in protecting the very animals & forests that before they traditionally plundered.
Poaching & deforestation are serious threats to the future of wilderness in Costa Rica.
Altho it´s almost unbelievable, Costa Rica has one of the highest rates of deforestation in Central America, and the world.
The World Resources Institute ranks Costa Rica fourth among the world´s nations in rate of deforestation.
Rainsong is striving thru Conservation Education and community outreach programs to elevate the consciousness of the locals in Cabuya til they can appreciate this fact :
The animals & forests are worth more alive than dead.
The ecotourism attracted to Rainsong (volunteers & visitors) is providing economic opportunities for Cabuyan residents. Many locals have expressed their appreciation of this fact, and their support for our projects.
We still face serious challenges locally in our conservation efforts.
Yet, we strive to maintain a hopeful attitude when confronting obstacles caused by ignorance, apathy, and out-dated traditional mentality.
"The earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth." Chief Seattle
Time is running out, in Cabuya, in Costa Rica, in the world.
Those of us who care, and want to change the destiny of our planet must take action NOW !!! Before it´s too late.
We invite all fellow planetary guardians to join us in our labor of love to save mother earth !!!
happy trails,
mary at rainsong
_____________________________________________________________________
we have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand ~ and melting like a snowflake.
This is a great project with great passion behind it. I just have one question about tourism growth in Cabuya. You mention the growth of tourism related businesses. This is great and very healthy. Do you have an idea of what may be too much growth or too rapid a growth pattern. Too much tourism for the community sometimes may be worse than no tourism development at all. Cabuya may be a long way off from too much tourism, but you may want to begin to think about it.
Keep up the amazing work.
Bob
Enviar un comentario nuevo