This morning we woke up bright and early to go to the Cloud Forest Reserve, which was absolutely stunning.
As for the lecture, it was the most interesting by far. It focused on sustainability in Costa Rica, specifically Monetverde, and ended with Teeter buying us all some ice cream. Thanks!
Selena talked about productivity, conservation, and sustainability in terms of climate change. When it comes to productivity, people like Selena try and produce goods in efficient ways, sustainably. I honestly think this branch depends on the other two to function in a sustainable way. As for conservation, this is taking the forest and not doing anything to it. Just allowing it to live, flourish, and carry out its purposes. This way, we can preserve the nature, beauty, and ecosystem, and also gain from the benefits of vegetation. Lastly, sustainability is developing the societies needs without compromising future generations. Selena explained how the people in the towns were taught to garden, give back seeds and unwanted crops that would go to waste, and learn to grow things in a sustainable way after Covid hit. This helps fight climate change because it is quite literally farm to table. No pollution by transporting the crops, and recycling materials helps for a cleaner ecosystem.
If I were to prioritize any of the three, it would be conservation because I think it is the easiest thing to do. Just don’t touch the forests! I don’t understand why people still tear down forests if they know it is ruining our climate, the biodiversity, and killing off animals. I think we just need to try and educate more people about the dangers of ruining forests.
Monteverde, and Costa Rica and general, faced many challenges after Covid. For example, the economy crashed after the pandemic because the lack of tourism. So, to help support people and businesses struggling, the community did things like trading fruit trees and giving people pots from the Cheese Factory to plant their own gardens. This all connects back to productivity, conservation, and sustainability. Costa Rica may not be perfect in terms of being sustainable, but they do make an effort to try.