When visiting the cloud forest and the Monteverde Institute the complex relationship between tourism and conservation was exposed. In the cloud forest we were able to immerse ourselves in nature while following a designated trail through one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world. Nature walks like this are extremely common tourist activities in Costa Rica, and during our time in Costa Rica we have experienced many of these excursions in different regions of the country. The significance of these experiences are that the money tourists spend on activities like these helps fund conservation efforts and environmental protection. However, tourism can also place pressure on the environment because every visitor literally and figuratively increases the human footprint left on these ecosystems. If visitors were allowed on these trails without rules, tourists could unintentionally damage plants, disturb habitats, or even harm themselves.

I believe limiting tourism represents both good stewardship and a necessary tradeoff. The forest depends on tourism revenue to survive, but it also needs protection from the negative effects of tourism. Limiting tourism can be frustrating for visitors because there are restrictions such as staying on designated paths and having less opportunities to get close to wildlife. One example from today was that only one trail, the Heart of the Forest Trail, was available for us to use. This limited our chances of seeing additional organisms or exploring more of the forest, but conserving the ecosystem must remain the top priority. Too many visitors can damage trails and negatively affect biodiversity over time. The cloud forest is the main attraction for tourists in Monteverde, so if conservation efforts fail tourism will too. Successful ecotourism is about finding ways for people to experience environments responsibly and ensuring they remain protected for future generations. This idea is vital and was emphasized by Monteverde Institute during our prevention. Because ultimately conservation and tourisms relationship boils down to sustainability and its 3 pillars that were emphasized in the presentation, economic, social, and environmental. And a balance between tourism and conservation can achieve all three pillars. Economic through the conservation efforts, social through job creation and cultural identity, and economic by tourism being the number three contributor to Costa Rica’s economy accounting for about 7%.