Costa Rica: The Accidental Green Tourist

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Recommended: Art as a means of communication

General Problem/Issue

Costa Rica is labeled as one of the green countries in the world. It has faced its fair share of environmental concerns going back to when it was the number one producer of beef for McDonald’s in the 1970s. The country experienced extreme deforestation as a result of the increased cattle grazing. Since then, Costa Rica has managed to move away from deforestation through efforts of forest conservation, nature reserves, and national parks. It has used ecotourism as a tool, and has proven to be the biggest helper in reversing the status of environmental degradation. Ecotourism has proven to be a very lucrative industry helping to sustain the country, but has shown to have both positive and negative impacts on the country. The positive impacts are highlighted most through continued publications of the marketing schemes of how sustainable Costa Rica is. This paper attempts to uncover the truths behind using ecotourism as a tool for sustainability.

Sustainability has been a hot topic, and the concern of many people since the lasting effects of environmental degradation has come to the forefront. It is no longer a small interest to the world and Costa Rica has proved to have put significant effort into conservation and preservation of its environment. It is becoming vital that these sustainability efforts continue and grow. One way Costa Rica has done so is through tourism and there is an emerging emphasis on art being a strong force in helping with these efforts. Art has been a tool for expression since first appearing long ago in murals, carved into stone. These murals were able to tell a story and pass down important information from the artist’s point of view. This is a great example of how sustainability ...

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Costa Rica.“Costa Rica Environment – current issues” Index Mundi. Last modified

December 6, 2013. Accessed February, 2014. http://www.indexmundi.com/costa_rica/environment_current_issues.html.

UNEP. “UNEP”, United Nations Environment Programme (environment for

development). Last modified 2014. Accessed February, 2014. http://www.unep.org/

“How the Arts and Cultural Tourism Spur Economic Development”, Western City. Last

modified May 2013. Accessed April 2, 2014. http://www.westerncity.com/Western-City/May-2013/How-the-Arts/.

The International Ecotourism Society. “The Definition,” The International Ecotourism

Society, last modified 2012, accessed April 08, 2014, https://www.ecotourism.org/what-is-ecotourism/.

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