Ecotourism part 2

As mentioned previously, ecotourism is a way to use the environment the way it is and turn it into something economic. A lot of the tourism in Costa Rica has something to do with this, the majority of which is the national park system and all of the activities that local people and visitors can do in them.
This weekend we experienced some ecotourism at its finest. Traveling to Monteverde, we learned that the local people petitioned to not have the roads rebuilt in order to keep the destination from becoming a day trip so tourists have to stay overnight and will perhaps do the nighttime or early morning tours through the rainforest. Roberto, our guide for the weekend, informed us that the entire Monteverde cloud forest was centered around ecotourism, as tourists come to experience nature 360 degrees. We went on a zipline tour of the forest, which was very cool. Ziplines themselves are a good way to provide an attraction for tourists yet preserve the majority of the forest, because tourists come to see nature and not just go on a ride like a roller coaster. From the ziplines we were up close and personal with the trees and rain that come along with being in a rain forest, and we also saw some amazing views when one of the ziplines crossed an expansive valley. I feel like this type of tourist attraction, compared to one of the 4X4 tours offered in the area, is much better for the environment and surrounding flora and fauna. Ziplines, after being constructed, are a no-emission activity, which is amazing. Being able to profit basically soley off of nature is such an incredible thing to witness because we enjoyed it, the environment was not harmed, and the company that we ziplined through was able to profit. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

An even more environmentally friendly type of ecotourism were our nature hikes through the forest at our hotel. People travel to Monteverde from around the world to witness tons of species of birds, including the rare Quetzal, and other animals in their natural surroundings, without making too much of an impact on them. We walked through the forests with guides, first through the secondary forest, which used to be fields about 50 years ago, and into the primary forest, where the trees are exponentially larger and more impressive. It was raining so we didn't get to see a ton of animals at night, but we did witness a tree frog sitting on a leaf, minding its own business and a few other small bugs. It was really cool to be able to see animals in their own habitat, with a minimalized impact by humans upon them. This really was the manifestation of ecotourism in my mind. The morning walk was the same thing, and my group was able to see both the female and the male Quetzal, which is a huge deal. We really lucked out to see this bird, considering there are only 400 pairs of them in the entire Monteverde forest, which spans hundreds of thousands of acres.

I also noticed the opposite effect at Manuel Antonio, as the human race crept up on nature and forced it into a small park surrounded by human things. We saw white face monkeys, banging on the roof of a nearby hotel and running across wires put up over the road in order to let them safely cross. Unfortunately, we also saw a dead monkey on the road, which was identifiable by its sharp teeth, small mouth, and curly tail. Clearly the encroachment of humans upon nature here is for the worse, but that is magnified by the fact that Manuel Antonio park is one of the most visited in the country. Another way that this was evident was by the trash and general smell of the town, which was just unclean to put it lightly. On the walk through the park though, we did witness an abundance of life, including more whiteface monkeys, howler monkeys, a couple of rodent/small dog looking things that were not dogs, and some birds. There were so many animals here because human tourists cornered all the animals in the one safe place they could live in, kind of like a small cage between civilization and the ocean. Without a guide and in the rain we probably missed out on some wildlife, but by that time we were all out of money for the most part, so we made the best of it.

Overall, ecotourism is a good thing for the environment here in Costa Rica. The country on the whole is trying to preserve more of their trees and things like that, and being able to keep their environment healthy and unaffected by humans as much as possible while having a major tourism industry is quite an amazing feat.