A New and Dangerous Phase
The development of ecotourism and the use of environmental services for income generation have gone someway to address this, ensuring investment in rural and disadvantaged areas by providing opportunities for local people and actively seeking to integrate regional economic growth with community development.
However it has been insufficient to counteract growing poverty, especially in urban areas, and has itself been affected by cutbacks in government spending and the innate inequity of globalized markets. The national parks, reserves and conservation systems have suffered from over centralization and lack of autonomy, in which even SINAC’s regional offices are managed from a national government office, and , more importantly, budget, resulting in inadequate human and financial resources to effectively police, manage and maintain protected land systems and enforce legislation passed. Many private and independent operations are being affected by problems of ‘leakage’ in which tourism developments are increasingly owned by wealthy foreign investors causing revenue to ‘leak’ out of the country, while the majority of the opportunities generated for local people are limited to low wage support jobs or the informal street vendor economy. The State of the Nation report notes that although tourism is increasing, investment is currently moving away from ecotourism towards luxury, high-end hotels and operations which will only exacerbate problems of inequity and foreign ownership.
Most ominously of all is the fact that these failures and cutbacks have particularly grave consequences for the future competitiveness of the country and therefore the sustainability of both its high-tech export driven industry and its ecotourism sector. Both of these models depend on the advantages gained as a result of the country’s social contract – its commitment to public welfare, human development and environmental protection. According to the World Bank itself, Costa Rica is already facing serious hurdles in maintaining sufficient skilled workforces and in improving its inefficient, state-operated telecommunications and transport industries and overly bureaucratic and poorly administered tax and legal systems, due to an inability to increase fiscal spending, while the poor state of its roads and deteriorating public safety record are a serious threat to tourism and all forms of foreign investment.
The State of the Nation report concludes by describing Costa Rica, perhaps somewhat dramatically, as entering a ‘new and dangerous phase’ in which ‘profound transformations’ are needed to address the ‘inadequate economic and social performance’ and increasing human development challenges. 16
The results of the Presidential and Congressional elections of February 2006 can perhaps be seen as evidence of this ‘phase’ marking a radical change in Costa Rica’s political landscape revealing the impact of these tensions between proponents and critics of ‘economic reform’.
Most ominously of all is the fact that these failures and cutbacks have particularly grave consequences for the future competitiveness of the country and therefore the sustainability of both its high-tech export driven industry and its ecotourism sector. Both of these models depend on the advantages gained as a result of the country’s social contract – its commitment to public welfare, human development and environmental protection. According to the World Bank itself, Costa Rica is already facing serious hurdles in maintaining sufficient skilled workforces and in improving its inefficient, state-operated telecommunications and transport industries and overly bureaucratic and poorly administered tax and legal systems, due to an inability to increase fiscal spending, while the poor state of its roads and deteriorating public safety record are a serious threat to tourism and all forms of foreign investment.
The State of the Nation report concludes by describing Costa Rica, perhaps somewhat dramatically, as entering a ‘new and dangerous phase’ in which ‘profound transformations’ are needed to address the ‘inadequate economic and social performance’ and increasing human development challenges. 16
The results of the Presidential and Congressional elections of February 2006 can perhaps be seen as evidence of this ‘phase’ marking a radical change in Costa Rica’s political landscape revealing the impact of these tensions between proponents and critics of ‘economic reform’.
