In 1955 the University of Costa Rica established its School of Biology which undertook early, forward-looking research into areas that needed protection and played an important role in developing conservation advocacy. This was followed by the opening of CATIE - Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza- in 1972, in Turialba, to promote research and training in tropical agriculture and agro-forestry, an educational center that has influenced the scientific and conservationist leadership of Costa Rica ever since. More recently, in 1990, EARTH, a non-profit university dedicated to providing education in agricultural sciences and the use of natural resources, was created in Guacimo de Limón, in the Caribbean lowlands. The university has undertaken extensive research into the development of environmentally sustainable tropical agriculture methods and has provided training opportunities for students from all over tropical South and Central America.
Several independent and largely foreign run organizations have also played an active role in the development of conservation policy.
The Tropical Science Center, TSC, was established in 1962 by three eminent American biologists with a mission to ‘obtain and apply knowledge that leads to harmonious and enduring relations between human-beings and the bio-physical resources of the Tropics’ 5 by undertaking scientific research, providing international and local education and training, creating and managing biological reserves for protection and field-education purposes, and, most importantly, promoting a ‘new vision concerning the value of natural resources; especially tropical forests.’ 6 The organization was responsible for founding the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in 1972, which began with an initial purchase of 5000 acres of land in the Tilaran Mountain Range and has since grown to encompass over 27,000 acres of protected land, becoming one of the top ‘ecotourism’ destinations in the country. It has also worked with the Monteverde Conservation League, utilizing innovative land-purchase strategies, to create the ´Children’s Eternal Rainforest’, partially funded by schools from all over the world this is now the country’s largest private reserve.
The Organization for Tropical Studies, OTS, a similar organization, was set up in 1963 by a consortium of international scientists, in partnership with Duke University, to ‘provide leadership in education, research and the responsible use of natural resources. 7 The OTS currently operates three biological stations; La Selva in the Caribbean lowlands; Palo Verde, situated in the Northwestern Pacific dry forests and Las Cruces, on Costa Rica’s Southern Pacific slopes, as well as the Wilson Botanical Garden in the same area. Through these facilities it has hosted thousands of local and international students and biologists and, like the TSC, has come to play a vital role in encouraging a greater appreciation of the nation’s biological wealth and in making conservation credible.
It was the passing of the National Forestry Law of 1969, however, that was the real turning point in Costa Rican conservation history. Developed in response to calls for legal sanction for the State to ‘ensure the protection, conservation and development of the country’s forest resources’, the law provided for the creation and administration of a system of National Parks and Biological Reserves to be set aside for the ‘recreation and education of the public, for tourism and for scientific research’, in addition to preserving the ‘natural and cultural heritage of Costa Rica’. 8
This stipulation had particular importance in linking the creation of the National Parks system to a developing ecotourism industry, supporting conservationists’ belief that through tourism the parks could become one of the major sources of revenue for the nation.
Although deforestation rates did not decrease immediately - in the decade between 1970 and 1980 a further 29% of forest cover was lost, mainly due to the World Bank and the IMF’s insistence on increased agricultural export production for debt-servicing – the law can be seen as the initial and most important step in the conservationist response to the environmental problem. Since then huge steps have been taken so that by 2005 the country had 25 National Parks, 8 biological reserves, 58 wildlife refuges and 11 forest reserves and 32 protected zones, resulting in the protection of 27% of national territory, all administered under the National System of Conservation Areas, SINAC, part of the Ministry for Environment and Energy, MINAE.
The Tropical Science Center, TSC, was established in 1962 by three eminent American biologists with a mission to ‘obtain and apply knowledge that leads to harmonious and enduring relations between human-beings and the bio-physical resources of the Tropics’ 5 by undertaking scientific research, providing international and local education and training, creating and managing biological reserves for protection and field-education purposes, and, most importantly, promoting a ‘new vision concerning the value of natural resources; especially tropical forests.’ 6 The organization was responsible for founding the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in 1972, which began with an initial purchase of 5000 acres of land in the Tilaran Mountain Range and has since grown to encompass over 27,000 acres of protected land, becoming one of the top ‘ecotourism’ destinations in the country. It has also worked with the Monteverde Conservation League, utilizing innovative land-purchase strategies, to create the ´Children’s Eternal Rainforest’, partially funded by schools from all over the world this is now the country’s largest private reserve.
The Organization for Tropical Studies, OTS, a similar organization, was set up in 1963 by a consortium of international scientists, in partnership with Duke University, to ‘provide leadership in education, research and the responsible use of natural resources. 7 The OTS currently operates three biological stations; La Selva in the Caribbean lowlands; Palo Verde, situated in the Northwestern Pacific dry forests and Las Cruces, on Costa Rica’s Southern Pacific slopes, as well as the Wilson Botanical Garden in the same area. Through these facilities it has hosted thousands of local and international students and biologists and, like the TSC, has come to play a vital role in encouraging a greater appreciation of the nation’s biological wealth and in making conservation credible.
It was the passing of the National Forestry Law of 1969, however, that was the real turning point in Costa Rican conservation history. Developed in response to calls for legal sanction for the State to ‘ensure the protection, conservation and development of the country’s forest resources’, the law provided for the creation and administration of a system of National Parks and Biological Reserves to be set aside for the ‘recreation and education of the public, for tourism and for scientific research’, in addition to preserving the ‘natural and cultural heritage of Costa Rica’. 8
This stipulation had particular importance in linking the creation of the National Parks system to a developing ecotourism industry, supporting conservationists’ belief that through tourism the parks could become one of the major sources of revenue for the nation.
Although deforestation rates did not decrease immediately - in the decade between 1970 and 1980 a further 29% of forest cover was lost, mainly due to the World Bank and the IMF’s insistence on increased agricultural export production for debt-servicing – the law can be seen as the initial and most important step in the conservationist response to the environmental problem. Since then huge steps have been taken so that by 2005 the country had 25 National Parks, 8 biological reserves, 58 wildlife refuges and 11 forest reserves and 32 protected zones, resulting in the protection of 27% of national territory, all administered under the National System of Conservation Areas, SINAC, part of the Ministry for Environment and Energy, MINAE.
