(Ecotourism? ), Manuel Antonio Beach and Park

 Manuel Antonio sometimes called Quepos. It is a town of 8,000. There are three major beaches which make up the area. Together they make up 1.5 km across. They are called Espadilla del Sur and Playa Manuel Antonio, they are both sheltered for safe swimming. Although the area is very beautiful it is not recommended to go during summer because 1,000-5,000 tourists have been known to visit at once. And the capacity is really only about 300. Plus when its not winter it is very expensive.

Some history on Manuel Antonio: It was first explored by Juan Vasquez de Coronado who found the Quepoa, a subtribe of the Borucas, when he arrived in 1563. These indians were largely wiped out in succeeding years by disease, intertribal warfare, and theft of lands by the spaniards. It was actually built by United Fruit aka Chiquita in the 1930's. Quepos like Golfito was originally laid out as a company town, established to service nearby plantations. Production of African Palm oil supplanted bananas as the local crop during the 1950's. However Panama diesese destroyed the crop and Quepos was the only became the only town in costa rica to suffer a population decline during the second half of the 20th century. The name Manuel Antonio was for a Spaniard who had a memorial plaque. He died from a "skirmish" with a group of Quepoa. 

There are three programs that manage the park´s conservation. Enviornmental Education program, which contributes to the communities which surround manuel antonio park. The program of Protection, which tries to limit and take care of physical and biological alterations to the park. It also and makes sure conservation laws are followed by the people. The last is a program of Administration which participates with local communities and uprising businesses. 

(Before we went to Manuel Antonio, which according to our tour guide Roberto is the second most popular tourist spot, I remember Luis told us that many species had been scared away by the people and the animals are in a way trapped between all the tourism. (

Adventure guide to costa rica, 3rd edition by Harry S. Pariser

Fair Trade

Wiki Definition

Free trade is a market model in which the trade of goods and services between or within countries flows unhindered by government-imposed restrictions. These restrictions may increase costs to goods and services, producers, businesses, and customers, and may include taxes and tariffs, as well as other non-tariff barriers, such as regulatory legislation and quotas. Trade liberalization entails reductions to these trade barriers in an effort for relatively unimpeded transactions.
One of the strongest arguments for free trade was made by classical economist David Ricardo in his analysis of comparative advantage. Comparative advantage explains how trade will benefit both parties (countries, regions, or individuals) if they have different opportunity costs of production.
Free trade can be contrasted with protectionism, which is the economic policy of restricting trade between nations. Trade may be restricted by high tariffs on imported or exported goods, restrictive quotas, a variety of restrictive government regulations designed to discourage imports, and anti-dumping laws designed to protect domestic industries from foreign take-over or competition.
Free trade is a term in economics and government that includes:
trade of goods without taxes (including tariffs) or other trade barriers (e.g., quotas on imports or subsidies for producers)
trade in services without taxes or other trade barriers
The absence of trade-distorting policies (such as taxes, subsidies, regulations or laws) that give some firms, households or factors of production an advantage over others
Free access to markets
Free access to market information
Inability of firms to distort markets through government-imposed monopoly or oligopoly power
The free movement of labor between and within countries
The free movement of capital between and within countries

an easy example we all think of is Starbucks, I remember they used to sell Costa Rican coffee and I believe because of the agreement, stopped buying it. I think it is unfair for such a big corporation to not give enough back to its very source of profit. Its like having one last backyard of trees and selling paper without watering the trees enough. Ok it may seem mean to compare a tree to a coffee farmer, but thats what it is. The tree will stop growing as much, like the farmer may stop working, and without them you have no forest, or crop. The price paid to coffee farmers is at a 30 year low and there are 2 billion cups of coffee sold per day. Starbucks sells free trade, but only for a small percentage of their coffee, the whole bean is not fair trade, which in my opinion should have some downfall. However SBUX is not doing so bad, since 1992 sales have increased, until these past two years.

May 28 (personal)

we just got back from manuel antonio, ill go backwards i guess. Manuel antonio is a beach kinda near jacob, it was so warm and the waves were sucking us all in like no other. we played football and meanwhile i accidentally bumped the back of my head against peters chin, and now i have a big bump on my head. we ate at some reasturant were there were some mariachis from spain singing, ay ay a yaaay cante y no lloreeee, yeah its kinda stuck in my head. then last night we went out to some dance place were they only had salsa and merengue, it was pretty sweet.

the 2 days before that we spent in monte verde and Arenal, it was awesome! , we got to go to some hot springs and drink at a bar that was under water at some hotel called baldi that had awesome noodles. then the next day we walked on a trail closer to the volcano and got to see arenal lake which was made by an eruption 30 years ago, and we walked acrosst rocks that had come from the volcano and even saw a huge tree that was also destroyed by the volcano, there were signs everywere that said, enter at your own risk, then the next day we took my first boat ride to monteverde, crossing that arenal lake, monteverde i have been to before so i was kinda mad that it was dark and rainy, actually pretty mad, i dont think any of us had much dry clothes left, so that made it kinda uncomfterable. otherwise these past few days have all been great, oh yeah we also saw a damn which powers alot of costa rica, oh and on our way to manuel antonio the bus driver let us off at a crocodile river! it was awesome, i thought id be scared by it was pretty cool

Cafe Brit

today we went to cafe brit, every picture I took didnt save because my camera is a piece of crap- but its all in my head :) It was a total show about how coffee is made, with these two really enthusiastic tourguides- actually there where three, but they were really nice. I went kind of crazy because I technically heard the entire tour double time since they were translating- but that made it all the more interesting. Anyway so they showed us how coffee is made from the plantation, to the methods in which people taste it, and a couple pointers I remember,
- Arabica has less caffeine than Robusta
- Dont put coffee in the microwave
- slirp the coffee fast so that all tastebuds plus the nostril catch the flavor
- Coffee only has 20 minute span, and good coffee tastes good in any temperature
- Cafe Brit owns about 1000 private coffee growers
- They are unique in that they mix their beans, but at the same time give each region in Costa Rica credit, like coffee from Poas for example
-Coffee was discovered by a heard of sheep, then drank by arabs who spread it to europe, first in France, then in Italy the pope approved it to not be "the devil" , then eventually spread to the caribbean by some sailor, or explorer
-Coffee can be used to make liquor (never knew that one)
-they use the caffeine they take out from Decaff and sell it to companies like Coca-Cola and Redbull, and also for medicines, this is a good example of sustainability
-another example is that they recycle the percent of the bean that is not used

http://www.cafebritt.com/coffeetour/?LangID=2&CFID=7399027&CFTOKEN=88149423

Organic Bananas (Dole what do you know) and Carbon Neutral Plan

Organic Program

Dole’s Certified Organic Banana Program is at the forefront of organic agriculture, implementing natural growing procedures, and meeting the consumer demand for the ever-growing organic trend of quality products. 

As consumer interest in organic products rises and new organic production and marketing systems keep evolving, organic agriculture continues to rapidly expand in the United States. 

As defined by the Organic Trade Association, organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is based on using minimal off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony. Basically, organic agriculture puts the focus on improving soil fertility through the use of mineral and natural fertilizers and enhancing biological cycles for natural insect and disease control. 

At the forefront of this organic trend is Dole’s Certified Organic Banana Program. In addition to using conventional agricultural production methods, Dole has been exploring alternative growing methods to provide consumers with a choice on how their bananas are grown. “We see the organic industry as a growing market with good opportunities to learn methods for growing produce in a more earth-friendly manner,” said Frans Wielemaker, Director of the Organic Program for Dole in Latin America. 

This is information I would use against Chiquita if I was a risk manager, or member of some NGO. If they are the number one sellers of bananas, then why doesnt Chiquita follow in their footsteps? 

http://www.doleorganic.com/

Pictures for week one

Coffee

Fine Costa Rican coffee can be expensive even for the Costa Ricans, we have learned the difference between Organic and Non Organic Coffee. We met an entrepreneur named Daisy Rodriguez who owns De la Cafe Tal, I think a play on words, like to say De la Capital, but I´m not positive. Anyway she is very cynical and not happy with the system. She used to have to sell her coffee for really cheap, and finally decided it was time to market her own brand and only sell to clients who would give her a bigger profit, then the dollar fifty she was getting for bag of coffee before. She now sells her coffee for about ten dollars a pound I believe. Her coffee plantation seemed small from the perspective we saw it, I´m sure there was alot more behind those trees we couldnt see. She was nice enough to treat us to a free cup of coffee and some biscochos. Señora Rodriguez sells her coffee online, and hates Starbucks and other corrupt systems who dont benefit the actual coffee growers like herself.

Ecotourism

according to the international ecosystem society , eco tourism is defined as : responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the enviornment and improves the well being of local people . Im going to list the principles, and how I have related to each one in some sense.
minimize impact there is a billboard in san jose that reads " el que tira la basura vive en la basura", another words "who throws trash lives in trash" ; In my opinion tourists are more likely to respect costa ricas enviornment, versus costa ricans who throw trash on the streets. Well I take that back, some people spit on the crocodiles we saw at the river.
build environmental and cultural awareness and respect This principle can be easy to follow, with the right tour guides. We have had many nice ones who are also very informative, I would say especially in Cafe Britt, their whole tour was dedicated to educating the audience about coffee.
provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts this is something cafe brit excelled on , and when we went to De la Cafe Tal, I felt the ambient was somewhat friendly, especially when Sra. Rodriguez gave us some coffee and snacks. She wasnt as pushy as Cafe Brit to bring us to a souvenir shop at the end of the tour, then again, she is not as big.
provide direct financial benefits for conservation This was definatly highlighted when we went to Monte Verde, they had signs in the bathroom as to how someone could give back to Monte Verde. They need something like over 200k to conserve around 315 acres, if i remember that number right. Their souvenir shop was sustainable to the rainforest, in the sense that you buy a tshirt, and that money goes back into the rainforest reserve.
provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people I think a good example of this I experienced at Manuel Antonio, there are local people lined up all across the bridge selling jewerly, towels, pottery, they live off tourists. I dont know how empowering that is for the people, but it is probably their full time job.
raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate I think a good example of this is right at my host home, my host father knows more about news in the US and other countries than I do, in fact I had no idea we were in a tropical storm until he mentioned it was what occureed after a hurricane, a phenomenon of different kinds of clouds coming together. He looks over tour guides and makes sure they do their jobs, so I know his attitude is a good reflection for this principle.


Ecotourism is what made Costa Rica famous, there was a boom in the 1940´s and in 1992 its Costa Rica´s first source of imcome, competing with Intel, which exports computer chips and finds cheap labor in Costa Rica. This Ecotourism boom was not planned according to Rodolfo our tour guide who took us to an Organic Coffee plantation. Tourism is a good way to sustain our enviornment, if used in the right way, for example...a dead tree that needs to be cut down can be made into ornaments and sold in souvenir shops. False Advertisement is often a problem for Tourists, for example Tortugero which is not as pretty as it is perceived in advertisements. Jaco is a beach known for surfing, waves can sometimes be more dangerous and people should not go into the water. There are many cliche places tourists go to, and these places are in danger.

here is the site I got the principles from http://www.ecotourism.org/webmodules/webarticlesnet/templates/eco_template.aspx?articleid=95&zoneid=2

May 20th (personal)

day 3 in costa ricaaa, eeeee im so happy, our host mom and dad own grani tico, a granizado shop, and have a little son thats almost 3 with a dog named blueee, we are in the veritas computer lab adding eachother on facebook, jaja, the first day we went walking around San Jose which is something I was never allowed to do, it was awesome! they tell us its a safe city and then they are like BUT wear your backpack in front of you, cracks me up that im afraid of my own people. Anyway, I love the university we are at, its a design and architecture school, I want to meet some of the costa rican students but im kinda shy, jaja, que mas...oh the cafeteria has awesome tico food