Today we went to Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a Quaker owned private park, and to The Monteverde Institute, a non-profit edcational organization.
At Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, we took the Heart of the Forest trail, looking for birds and monkeys. As we walked, we were asked to consider how restricted this reserve was compared to just a year ago. Last year, the Costa Rica Plus 3 group got to wander off in smaller groups looking for animals almost anywhere they would like to. But, this year we were required to stay together and stay on the one set path. This caused a few issues, for example, with the noise level of the group; most people seemed to not care about the birds. They would talk to eachother loudly, even when a bird was brave enough to come close to us.
However, I feel like this is an issue with our group, not with the way this reserve decided to reorganize. They still offered the option of other trails, depending on what you want to see and how long you want to be there; they just wanted to keep track of how many people went where, so that they ensure that the tourists are not disturbing the forest too much. Nobody, especially not loud tourists, are entitled to the forest and the animals there. I think that it is perfectly reasonable to limit the amount of people on your own private property, even more so when you are protecting the peace of the wildlife that keeps you in business. I am glad that there are business that are willing to set aside profits and chose sustainability.
At The Monteverde Institute, we learned about how productive Costa Rica’s renewable energy producers are. They already produce double the energy that the country consume, but, for some reason, many more companies are trying to break into the market. These companies, and even the government, sometimes invade indigenous land to build dams or wind turbines, without ever asking the indigenous people for permision. Currently, there is a company looking to build four dams in a river commonly used for white water rafting. This would damage the river, unnecessarily, and limit tourism in that region.
We also learned about how monoculture is negetively impacting the enviroment. The chemical fertilizers and pesticides that monoculture, specifically pineapple, require gets blown away by wind into school yards and washed away by the rain into rivers used for drinking. The water and air are not only consumed by humans, every animal sufferes when companies negatively affect any aspect of the environment. Animals also do not have accsess to water processing plants, so if the only way Costa Ricans of the future are able to drink water is through processing plants, the animals will not be able to drink water at all. Costa Rica has too much biodiversity to irresponsibly handle agrochemicals.
With threats as big as poisoned drinking water, I think that it is unfair to complain about sustainable changes that companies are making. We should be welcoming every step forward and bring this perspective of change back into the United States. I get that it can be frustrating when a company alters the way they have been doing things when it negetively affects you and you have been with them for so long. But, it is important to look at the bigger picture: more of the endangered species of the cloud forest will be able to recover with less disturbance. We will have cleaner air and better water if companies just stoped choosing to do things the easy and more profitible way.
