We started off our morning at the Cloud Forest in Monteverde. On our tour we were able to see so many amazing plants and animals and we were able to learn a lot about the ecosystems of Costa Rica. The tour today taught me so much about appreciate and conserving the environment in Costa Rica and beyond. We learned about what it takes to have this conservation, which relates heavily to sustainability.

Many of us researched Costa Rica’s successes in sustainability at the beginning of this trip. After our tour today we got to talk a bit more about those successes at Monteverde with Selena. We learned more about growth economies and circular economies and how they relate to sustainability as well as worked with groups to come up with new sustainable processes of our own.

Through this presentation and group work I was able to experience sustainability in a circular economy as well as the competing interests of productivity, conservation and sustainability as they all have different goals when it boils down to it. There are many challenges that Monteverde faces in this respect especially during the time of the pandemic.

We specifically discussed those challenges as well as the efforts to remedy some of the negative effects of covid. One of the main things that was done in Monteverde was to ensure that everyone had accessibility to food, whether that be growing it, getting it from local markets or farms. They also made an effort to promote the circulation of the dollar within Monteverde to help each of the people within the community. Even during a trying time like covid, Monteverde residents continued to think sustainably and continued to conserve and produce for their community.

I think out of all the things we talked about I would prioritize sustainability because I think that is important to maintain the longevity of things like the environment or economy because it has an impact on all people.

Both the experience at the cloud forest and talk in Monteverde was eye opening to me as it introduced a new perspective about sustainability and conservation. I think it is an important topic to share as well as learn because it relates heavily to the future of Costa rica and the world.