Eco Tourism 3

As i have talked about in prior posts, ecotourism has a major impact on Costa Rica. In my last blogg i went over the benifits that ecotourism has on the country and in this blogg i am going to go over some of the negitive aspects that ecotourism brings to Costa Rica.
While ecotourism´s rapid growth is continuosly celebrated by the nation, environmentalists fear that this may have a negitive effect on nature. Ecotoursim grows at a rate of about 6% per year and some places such as Manual Antonio, which we visited, takes in an average of 1,000 visitors a day during the high season. It is feared that this is an overpopulation of people who are in the natural parks, which is scaring away animals. Also these tourists are feeding the animals which has a huge impact on the natural cycle.
Greenwashing has also become a major issue in Costa Rica. Greenwashing is where a company claims that they are green or environmentally friendly when they are not. Many companys such as resorts are taking advantage of this which has a negitive effect on the companies that are truely green and trying.
Companies such as nature guides and extreme adventure types are looking for profit over protection. They are starting to go into areas that should not be tampered with in order to make money. This illegal and unsistainable practice harms no only the environment but also the industry itself. If people continue to damage the protected land, it will carry directly into the ecotourism business itself. Things that were protected are no seen as a dollar sign and are being sought out and exposed.
It is well known that there is an issue with rule enforcement in Costa Rica. People feel that they have the right to do what they want. This carry over to ecotourism because people are not respecting the rules. They feel that they can get away with climbing the sides of volcanos or trampling through protected forest and not get caught. In many cases they can! Enforcement of law is very weak and needs to be reenforced through more fines and busts. There is a huge tropical fish poaching problem that in many cases gets looked over in Costa Rica. Things like this needs to be focused on and the poaching needs to have huge penalties.

Ecotourism in Costa Rica is a huge industry that if performed correctly can be extremely sustainable and profitable for the country. Although there are some downsides, the positive effect that it has had thus far is overwhelming. Costa Rica needs to look at it as a long term investment that they need to protect not overuse.