Today, we visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Monteverde is a great example of Costa Rica’s emphasis on ecotourism, tourism that involves the conservation of natural areas for all to appreciate. During our hikes around the reserve, we found insects, birds, and monkeys native to Costa Rica. Perhaps the most amazing part of the hike was seeing the continental divide, which separates the drainage of water between the Pacific and Caribbean sides of Costa Rica. The mountainous terrain and the seemingly infinite number of trees was an inspiring sight. At the heart of this amazing spectacle is a combination of productivity, conservation, and sustainability efforts.
In Monteverde, we can observe these competing interests through its first stage of development. When the Quakers moved to Monteverde, they relied heavily on dairy cows for a source of income. This need for monetary stability drove many Quakers to cut down forests for more grazing land. Unfortunately, this came at the cost of conservation. By cutting down so many trees, the Quakers were contributing to neither conservation of natural resources nor environmental sustainability of their practices.
In today’s context, the main problem Monteverde faces is climate change. Unfortunately, the cloud forests of Monteverde are becoming more of a rainforest because of higher temperatures. This means that, to save the cloud forests and the environment as a whole, we must focus on conservation and sustainability, perhaps at the cost of productivity. In the context of Monteverde specifically, forest conservation has played a major throughout its history. By working with farmers and informing them of the benefits of conserving the forest, the cloud forest has remained. It is important to note that there must be some economic opportunity to make conservation and sustainability worthwhile to a business. That might be people’s positive views towards eco-friendly businesses, or it might be something like eco-tourism like we see in Costa Rica. The main challenge with Monteverde has to do with the conservation of its forests, and that takes sacrifices from locals regarding production of agricultural products. However, the conservation of forests has led to more ecotourism, giving that economic opportunity and bringing money to the area in another way as well as helping mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions. All throughout Costa Rica, we can see a struggle between the productivity of farmers and the environmental sustainability of their practices, especially regarding water use. In order to conserve and sustain healthy sources of water, farmers must limit their use of water and pesticides. By joining in these efforts, farmers ensure that the water making its way to the ocean is not polluted with pesticides and that plenty of water is available for natural ecosystems.
I would prioritize sustainability over the other two, especially in the case of Costa Rica. I think that a business with sustainable practices attracts more customers than others. The more customers a business has, the more productive it is or has to be to keep up with demand. The increased interest also opens up new opportunities like tours, offering more ways to make money. In terms of conservation, a business is likely conserving resources to be sustainable. To be sustainable through an environmental lens, businesses must make sure that they can maintain their practices indefinitely without harming the environment. To achieve this, sustainable businesses likely conserve resources such as water and fuel in order to minimize harm on the environment. Sustainability encompasses the other two efforts in some way, so I would focus on that.