Today in Monteverde, we woke up at 5:30am to start our morning bright and early with a hike through the cloud rainforest. The rainforest was a breathtaking, once in a lifetime experience. We were physically in the clouds admiring the biodiversity and conservation of wildlife. Now how many people can really say they’ve been up in the clouds? As we walked through the trails, we learned about a few different species of birds that are native to Costa Rica. In addition, we learned there are three species of monkeys and two species of sloths found in the cloud rainforest. We were able to visit the waterfall as well as walk across the hanging tree and we even got to experience la ventana (window), a trail that led to a view of clouds.
In addition to going to the cloud rainforest this morning, we had a lecture in the afternoon, learning further about the Monteverde Institute. We focused on the competing interests of productivity, conservation, and sustainability. The Institute focuses on each interest a little differently, they focus on tourism to produce money for their research, but have greenhouses and nature throughout to conserve the biodiversity, and keep things sustainable by ensuring that both conservation and productivity can be done in an efficient manner. That said, I would choose sustainability as priority. Costa Rica’s main goals for sustainability include no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, and clean water and sanitation. All of these are extremely important and cover aspects of productivity and conservation as well.
The result of climate change affects the balance found in the cloud rainforest. The rainforest is above the rain line, so without the moisture from the clouds, the climate could dry out, causing plants to die, causing animals to have trouble surviving. Though Costa Rica uses 99% renewable energy and protects 26% of its land, it also uses chemicals like pesticides and fertilizer for farming and chemicals for their cheese production. Since Costa Rica’s economy is largely a manufacturer industry, Monteverde shares with the rest of the country.
