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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE August 23, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 30, 2005 |
Puntarenas, Costa Rica – Cloud Forest Conservation through Ecotourism |
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| In Puntarenas, Peace Boat is greeted by a pelican. |
Peace Boat’s first port of call as it made its way through the Pacific Ocean was Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Bounded by Nicaragua and Panama, over 40% of Costa Rica’s rugged landscape is protected by one of the most impressive conservation programs in the Americas. This incentive arose when Costa Rica became one of the first countries to participate in the debt-for-nature exchange. A portion of the national debt is pardoned in exchange for the protection of a specified amount of land from environmental degradation. Equally impressive, Costa Rica shares a kinship with Japan since its constitution has a similar clause to Japan’s war-renouncing Article 9. In Costa Rica, no armed forces have been maintained since the army was abolished in 1948. |
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| The rich biodiversity of Costa Rica’s landscape. |
Peace Boat participants were able to appreciate and respect Costa Rica’s protected rainforest, while taking part in ecotourism activities. Ecotourism has improved Costa Rica’s economy while keeping its commitment to environmental conservation. On one such excursion, a group of participants visited the Monteverde Cloud Forest located a few hours from the Puntarenas coastline. Straddling the continental divide, Monteverde Cloud Forest is shrouded in mist delivered by trade winds from the Pacific Ocean. The forest thrives from the water and nutrients brought by the mist and clouds. |
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| GET teacher Natalie Ferris glides above the Cloud Forest canopy. |
Hiking and walking, as well as “canopy gliding”, were some of the more popular ecotourism activities enjoyed by Peace Boat participants. “Canopy gliding” allows participants to fully embrace the beauty of the treetops or “canopy” of the forest. Hooked onto pulleys, participants glide through the canopy on cables suspended throughout the forest. “I could see the cloud forest extending forever on both sides as I glided by,” said Natalie Ferris, a GET teacher from Australia, with awe. “I’ve never experienced nature in quite the same way before, and I appreciate it all that much more.” |
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| The canopy of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. |
The forest floor is completely covered by the top leaves, which arrange themselves in such a way to avoid shading each other as they capture sunlight in the canopy environment. Monteverde Cloud Forest boasts more than 550 species of epiphytes—plants that live on other plants—such as mosses, orchids, bromeliads and ferns. Symbiotic relationships are essential in the cloud forest, where trees receive water from the epiphytes, which capture and retain water from clouds and mist. Within the forest, a variety of species co-exist with nature including butterflies, howler monkeys, white-faced monkeys, sloths, reptiles, hummingbirds, quetzals, bellbirds and a host of insects. |
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| Mist shrouds the Monteverde Cloud Forest. |
Even with its conservation efforts, Costa Rica’s forests face an unclear future. Global warming is threatening the fragility of the epiphytes as they slowly dry out with the warmer climate. More harrowing is the rate of deforestation, as land is cleared for ranching and harvesting of timber for export. Furthermore, since some of the protected lands in Costa Rica are privately owned, the abundant biodiversity is threatened by possible future deforestation. But for now, Costa Rica is managing a remarkable conservation program which serves as a model of sustainable environmental protection. |
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