Farmers struggling to make a living in
Costa Rica's Talamanca mountain region near the border of
Panama are pinning economic hopes on small-scale ecotourism,
which has given them an ambitious entrepreneurial spirit and
new-found environmental ethic. The Talamanca region is one of
the poorest in Costa Rica, but its forests hold a wealth of
biological diversity, including scores of species found nowhere
else on Earth. To develop the area's potential as an ideal
destination for nature lovers, 16 grassroots organizations have
launched the Talamanca Ecotourism Network.
One member of
the network is the indigenous organization Stibraupa, which
means "artisans" in the Bribri language. The group
manages a small lodge whose rustic cabins are thatched with
native suita palm fronds and line the banks of the
Yorgín River.
"We take
better care of nature now than before, because we didn't know
that what we have has a lot of value," explains Bernarda
Morales, president of Stibraupa. One of the greatest benefits
of tourism, the indigenous representative adds, is that it
allows the men to stay in the community to work instead of
seeking employment elsewhere. They are also able sell their
produce and handicrafts to tourists, reducing the need to
transport their products to the nearest market by boat.
The
organization began receiving tourists, mostly foreigners, six
years ago. Visitors travel from the village of Bambu to the
lodge by cayuco, or handmade canoes, and can hike through
exuberant tropical moist forest, bathe in limpid river waters,
learn about organic banana, cacao, plantain, and medicinal
plant crops, and experience Bribri foods and customs.
Closer to Costa
Rica's Caribbean coast, the Kekoldi indigenous group offers
tourists a visit to one of the world's most important sites for
watching the migration of raptors. The eagles, hawks and other
birds of prey fly overhead during their temperate fall and
spring migrations --- more than million birds may fill the
skies during one season. The Kekoldi also manage a nursery for
endangered green iguanas, which they plan to reintroduce in
nearby forests. Tourists pay $2 to visit the nursery, and the
money is reinvested in iguana management and helps support the
community's elders and schoolchildren.
"The
iguana is an animal that everybody hunts, and we in the
community think we can do something to solve this
problem," maintains Juana Sánchez, member of the
Asociacion Kekoldi Wak Ka Koneke, which means "Care for
the Earth" in their language. The association decided to
install the nursery after loss of the local cacao crops to
fungus provoked intensive iguana hunting plus deforestation.
Thanks to tourism, the nursery is now self-supporting.
Another member
of the ecotourism network is the oldest farmers' association in
the Talamancas: the San Migueleña Association for
Conservation and Development (ASACODE for its acronym in
Spanish). The group, which has a lodge in the middle of a 356-
acre, community-owned forest, has been learning how to host
international groups from universities. They've developed a
tour package that allows students to learn about reforestation
with native species, biodiversity of the moist tropical forest,
agricultural systems on rural family farms in the zone, banana
cultivation, and the differences between primary forest,
impacted forest, and wetlands.
"Receiving
tourists is hard work," comments José Luis
Zúñiga, president of ASACODE. "Learning to
cook for foreigners is very different, and another clash is the
language," he adds. The group expects to fill one thousand
rooms annually, which is what is needed to make the ecotourism
venture profitable for the group. "We see that ecotourism
won't fulfill everything, but at least it will fill a gap in
basic household provisions," says Zúñiga.
Others network
projects are more recent ventures, like the El Yolillal Lodge
of the Gandocan Small Farmers Association (APROGAN). Located in
the Gandoca Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, on Costa
Rica's southern Caribbean Coast, it is the gateway to one of
the most internationally important wetlands in the nation: the
Gandoca lagoon, one of the few sites in Costa Rica where
manatees are still found. Endangered leather-back turtles still
nest on the refuge's beaches, and alligators abound in the
mangroves.
Paulina Ponce
of APROGRAN is hopeful that ecotourism will help improve living
conditions for the group's families, especially single mothers.
"One shouldn't lose sight of the project's benefits for
the community, not just individuals," she says.
"Group order and cohesiveness are important for working
better." For community leader Aquiles Rodríguez,
ecotourism is a way of raising awareness about the need to
protect wildlife. "There used to be lots of crocodiles,
jaguars, manatees, and peccaries," he recalls. "Many
animals are no longer here, but people are trying to protect
what remains."
Another
ecotourism lodge ready to receive tourists as well as research
groups is the Buena Vista, managed by the Talamanca Forest
Conservation and Development Association (ACODEFO). The
association is made up of professionals from the Bribrí
region, and the lodge is located on the highest point in
Talamanca, with a panoramic view of the Sixaola River and the
mountains of La Amistad International Park, which is shared by
Costa Rica and Panama. It is also a perfect spot for watching
migratory and resident birds, and the 12-kilometer hike or
horseback ride through the forest from the village of Bribri to
the lodge makes it an ideal site for nature and adventure
lovers.
The Talamanca
Ecotourism Network was launched by the Talamanca-Caribe
Biological Corridor, a conservation initiative in the region,
and Fundacion ANAI, with support from organizations like the
United Nations Development Program, the Spanish Agency for
International Cooperation, and the Costa Rica-Canada Debt Swap
Fund.
Since
Talamanca's tourism activities and wildlands are so varied,
ecotourism network members don't see one another as
competition, but participate jointly in tourism fairs and
promotional activities. According to network coordinator
Géraldine Durand, about half of the region's communities
are involved in tourism, whether operating lodges, providing
tour services, selling crafts or produce, or sharing their
customs. Their common interest, she explains, is family well-
being and conservation.
As José
Luis Zúñiga of ASACODE states, "The machete
is not the only tool the farmer relies on. We also have to take
care of our natural heritage."
Contacts in
Costa Rica:
Francisco
Pacheco
ACODEFO
tel 506/751-
0020
acodefo@hotmail.com
Juana
Sánchez
Asociacion
Civil Kekoldi Wak Ka Koneke
tel 506/751-
0020
corrbiol@racsa.co.cr
deyedi@costarricense.cr
Paulina
Ponce
APROGAN
tel 506/751-
0020
corrbiol@racsa.co.cr
José
Luis Zúñiga
ASACODE tel
506/751-0020
kumarycr@yahoo.com
Bernarda
Morales Stibraupa
tel 506/375-
3372 750-0020
anaicr@racsa.co.cr
corrbiol@racsa.co.cr
Jamie
Carranza
Corredor
Biológico
Talamanca
Caribe Apdo 13-1002 San José
tel 506/272-
2400 or 751-0020
corrbiol@racsa.co.cr
Asociacion
ANAI
Apdo. 170
Sabanilla, 2070
tel 506/224-
3570
anaicr@racsa.co.cr
http://www.anaicr.co.cr/
Read more about
the Talamanca Ecotourism Network in the Eco-Index: www.eco-index.org/search/results.cfm?
ProjectID=405
Also in this
section:
Business & Economy Briefs
Cerro Punta to Boquete
road called a losing business proposition
Costa Rica: Bribri try
their hand at ecotourism
