Today, we went to the Cloud Forest and hiked for three and a half hours. It was beautiful. We saw a toucan, hence the title, along with other birds and some monkeys way up in the trees. After our hike with the tour guide, we were able to venture off on our own. I went with a small group to see a waterfall and then we went to see the continental drift. We were a little bit late to our bus, but the views made it worth it.
We went to the Monteverde Institute to learn about the economics of conservation. Conservation goes along with sustainability. The three main parts of sustainability are environment, economic, and social. This can conflict with productivity because farmers are encouraged to cut down trees for their land and produce as much as they can, which is not a good form of conservation. We learned just having 5 reserves is not enough because animals, such as those in the cat family, need a lot of space. Something that is done to move the people out of the reserve area is making the rent only affordable when it is 40-50 minutes away. It was really cool to see all of the efforts being made at the Monteverde Institute.
Monteverde has several different challenges that the institute is trying to solve. Monteverde has an extended dry season, which is not good for the natural life that needs water. This problem occurs in many other places besides Costa Rica. There has also been pressure on local services: garbage, water supply, roads, noise and light pollution.
If I were to pick if Monteverde should focus on sustainability, productivity, or conservation, I would pick sustainability. I think this is the most important of the three because in order to continually conserve and have high productivity, it must be sustainable. In the long run, focusing on sustainability would be the most efficient because it encourages environmental progress that is maintainable.
