Booming Growth May Damage Environment
4/20/97
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Headline: Booming Growth May Damage Environment
Source: Earth Times News Service
Date: 4/20/97
Author: Lisa Ferdinando
(c) Earth Times News Service
By: LISA FERDINANDO
(c) Earth Times News Service
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica--The pride and joy of Costa Rica is its abundance of
nature and wildlife. Outside the bustling crowded capital city of San
Jose, the rolling countryside gives way to the rain forests, volcanos and
vast unspoiled beaches on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Growth and development in this tiny Central American country has boomed
the last few decades which brings good and bad news to environment. There
has been a trend towards greater environmental consciousness but the
increase in development still translates into greater production of goods,
wastes and stress on the environment.
"The considerable growth over the last fifty years has been at the cost of
unsustainable use of the natural resources" said Hans Kurz, resident
representative for the United Nations Development Program, UNDP, in Costa
Rica.
Development has relied heavily on the environment and its natural
resources. The country has witnessed increased building, clearcutting of
forests and use of natural resources without regard to replenishment.
Banana and coffee plantations, two of the largest cash crops, depend on
fertilizers and pesticides which, in turn, run in to the soil and water
sources. The plantations and processing plants also produce a large
amount of waste.
We are at a crossroads where things start to deteriorate," said Kurz. "The
old model of depredation just does not work anymore."
Instead of exploiting its natural resources, the country needs to enter
into new productive ventures centered on sustainability, he said. Costa
Rica, a country that depends heavily on its land for its livelihood, still
has managed to set aside large areas of its land as protected areas and
nature preserves. The UNDP says about one-fourth of the country is
dedicated to this purpose.
Despite the enormous effort there are still those who profit at the price
of the environment. The rain forests continue to be cut for their valuable
trees such as mahogany and ironwood, said Daniel Torres, a naturalist
guide for the rain forest aerial tram.
Poachers capitalize on illegal captures of tropical birds and lizards.
Even little children on the side of the dusty roads smile and sell their
hand picked and exquisite orchids.
The people of Costa Rica are keenly aware of the looming danger over the
environment. Ecotourism and conservation are extremely hot buzz word
across the country.
With a host of environmental friendly packages, tourists can see nature in
a kinder, gentler way. The rain forest aerial tram runs above the trees
for a bird's eye view of nature's splendor without ever leaving the seat.
"We are preserving the forest. We want to show people how you can make
money out of the forest without cutting it down," said Torres.
But, as one tour guide said about his company, "we are more concerned
about the environment than they are."
The United Nations Development Programme says that in the beginning of
this decade about 22 percent of the primary forest remained. This is
compared to the 56 percent that remained in 1960. At this rate,
unprotected primary and secondary forests will be depleted in a
matter of a few years.
"The law is here, the only thing is we don't apply it, we don't enforce
it- that's what needs to be done," said Tonio Fonseca, a Costa Rican
environmentalist.
Lax enforcement of existing standards and corruption among officials allow
for the continued cutting of the forests, indiscriminate use of natural
resources and continued destruction of the environment, he said. Some
alternatives have been explored, such as planting teak wood in deforested
areas. Teak only takes 10 years to mature instead of the 35 years for
mahogany. Governments have offered incentives for landowners to preserve
their land instead of clearing it or planting crops.
If we ever hope to avert the path of environmental destruction in which we
are headed, Costa Rica must act and must act now, said Fonseca.