Costa Rica: Ecowonderland

The Central American Country Has A Rich National Parks System Featuring Gems Such As Rainforests And Coral Reefs.

December 22, 1991|By Lisanne Renner, Of The Sentinel Staff

TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK, COSTA RICA — In the spot where most hotels post their checkout time, the Tortuga Lodge displays this note: ''We go to great effort to keep all non-Homo sapiens out of your room. 100% success is humanly impossible. Check your shoes and your clothes before you put them on. Check your bed.''

Creepy-crawlies aside, it's the wildlife outside the rooms of this jungle lodge that attract tourists - howler monkeys that sound like barking dogs, 300-pound turtles, poison-dart frogs and spikey-spined iguanas the size of dachshunds.

Boating through sluggish canals cutting through tropical forest is a vivid way to see Tortuguero National Park. Iridescent spiders drop into the boat, iguanas disappear into jungle foliage, monkeys leap from treetops, and green turtles make the park's beach their largest nesting site in the western Caribbean.

Founded in 1970 along Costa Rica's eastern coast, Tortuguero is one of the oldest of the 30 national parks and protected areas that make Costa Rica a major destination for ecotourists. With about 12 percent of its land protected, Costa Rica drew 435,000 tourists last year, many of them coming to see its biological bonanza.

Last year tourism beat out coffee as the Central American nation's second biggest source of foreign currency, bringing in $275 million. Platanos are still top banana.

For a country the size of West Virginia, Costa Rica's parks are extraordinarily varied. Visitors can gaze into ancient volcano craters or listen to the hiss and rumble of active ones. Birders can spy the resplendent quetzal in the rainforests. Rivers take thrill-seekers on exhilarating white-water rafting trips, and reefs are a spectacle for snorkelers.

With the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Caribbean Sea on the east, Costa Rica is part of a land bridge linking North and South America. Costa Rica's parks shelter a stunning example of biodiversity. Jaguars and sloths are among the 205 mammal species; toucans among the 849 birds species. American crocodiles number among the 378 reptile and amphibian species. From mossy rainforests that smell like a damp basement to open, airy dry forests, there are9,000 plant species.

Costa Rica's major cultural attractions are less superlative - they include the Jade Museum, Gold Museum, National Museum and National Theater, but little else. Nature is clearly the biggest draw.

With a 93 percent literacy rate, a large middle class and a life expectancy of 74, Costa Rica is better poised than most developing countries to establish a park system. Don't expect, however, the slickly packaged parks you find in the United States. A raw and rustic condition is what makes Costa Rica's parks a pleasure for travelers jaded by more canned experiences.

Poas Volcano National Park - with its rail-rimmed overlook, paved roads and large visitors' center - is the most developed. Few others have interpretive centers, plumbing or brochures showing hiking trails. One muddy trail through Braulio Carrillo National Park is lined with upturned bottle caps nailed to wooden planks for traction.

There's no money for niceties, and travelers don't seem to care. They descend in such numbers that park officials and tour operators are discussing limiting entry to parks and otherwise trying to ensure that success doesn't destroy the very treasures that created it.

''Ecotourism has become almost too successful in Costa Rica,'' said Kurt Kutay, who once worked in one of the country's parks and now runs tours through his Seattle-based company, Wildland Adventures.

''There are certain natural areas now that are simply too crowded, and some people who come to see wildlife may be disappointed.''

Tourists generate money that protects the parks, provides jobs for locals and spreads environmental education. But there's a flip side.

''There are problems . . . in terms of degredation to the natural resources,'' said Elizabeth Boo, ecotourism program officer for the World Wildlife Fund. Trails erode, rivers and coral reefs become polluted, litter falls where once only leaves did, and animals may change their behavior or simply disappear.

Local communities prosper when their back yards become the stuff of postcards, but they also can suffer, said Boo. ''There's a potential for economic inequity, which means that tour operators will take out of the area a lot of tourism dollars instead of leaving them in the local community.''

Also, communities dependent on tourism can suddenly find themselves hurting, as did residents in Limon, on the Caribbean coast, which was jolted by a devastating earthquake in April.

Responding to such concerns, some tour operators are injecting conscience and caution into the commercialism of nature.

To ensure the tranquility of nesting turtles, for instance, Costa Rica recently established a law requiring trained guides to escort turtle-watching tourists on the beach.

Some tour companies also are helping the ecosystems and cultures that make their jobs possible.

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