JENNIFER E. ROMERO

MARCH, 2012

Costa Rica’s history and experience as an environmental leader in the developing world

What contributes to this image and its practice?

Outline

Introduction

Historical review

Conclusions

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Introduction

4% of the total world terrestrial

biodiversity (Gámez, 1993)

More birds species that are

found in the whole of the US

Export economy is dominated

by sugarcane, coffee and bananas+cattle

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Introduction

Who have been the political catalyst for conservation?

Who started the environmental groups, who created the regulatory agencies, who convinced the politicians, who led the protests?…the foreign influence disappears.

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Historical review

1846: law for forbidding deforestation near the waterways surrounding Barba Volcano

1881: ban on dynamite fishing

1906: forest conservation Law

1909: Fire Law to regulate agriculture

Until the decade of 1940, government policies directly encouraged deforestation, requiring settlers to ·”improve”

wild areas as a precondition for ownership and providing credit to convert forests to pasture and cropland 

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Historical review

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Poswar era:

Transnational relations among

Costa Rican and foreign scientists US concerns about collective

security in the region during the war

1942: Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Sciences in Turrrialba (CATIE is its successor)

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Historical review

1948: abolition of the military. Fund for social investment

1950: First Natural resources Conservation Week, sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and industry Forestry Code: the Secretariat ignored agronomists offers

to make draft

1953: Soil and Water Conservation Law (Álvaro Rojas)

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Historical review

1960`s, the short term view came to be challenged by individuals trained in ecology and wildlife biology

they promoted parks rather than reforestation as the appropriate policy response

1968: Colegio de Biólogos

Wave of foreign scientists with professional training + personal commitments

1969: The forestry Law (led by Álvaro Rojas)

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Historical review

1970s dramatic increase in social activism and environmental policy reform

Wildlife increasingly under threat

1970: Costa Rica`s first mass environmental protest, directed against the American Aluminum Company (Alcoa)

Creation and expansion of the Costa Rican Park System 1970-1986 Ugalde and Boza (two natural resources students)

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Historical review

1971: Costa Rican Audubon Society

1973 Amigos de la Naturaleza

Tropical Science Centre Costa Rican Association for the Conservation of Nature

1974: Daniel Oduber (ranched and congressman) was elected president of the Republic

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Historical review

Daniel Oduber administration: National Parks have the legal backing of the government New Park Service with a mandate, at least on paper, for

expansion Park acreage nearly doubled Park service budget tripled; staff increased to 400

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Historical review

1980s Balance-of-payment problems

The park service staff was reduced by a fifthEnvironmentalists launched a foreign fundraising

campaign: $5.5 million in less than five years extensive coverage in the newsletter of American

environmental organizations people in wealthy countries learned of Costa Rican

protected areas Ecotourism industry

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Historical review

1986: Costa Rican Ecology Party

Late 1980s: recommendation for a new environmental Ministry Tourism surpassed coffee and bananas

Costa Rica emerged as a leader in debt-for-nature swaps:

Allow environmental organizations to buy private commercial debt at discounted rates and retire the debt in exchange for promises of domestic conservation investments

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Historical Review

National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC)

National Biodiversity Institute (INBio): private, nonprofit, public-interest association

InBio ran into political trouble from an unanticipated quarter when it announced a “biodiversity prospecting” agreement with the “American” (US) Chemical firm Merk & Co.

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Historical Review

1990s, a greenest society: hundreds of environmental organizations were formed; sustainable development

as economic model

The Humanist Ecology PartyNGOs affecting government policyPresident Figueres

Advisory Commission on Biodiversity, the nation`s most important source of biodiversity policy initiatives

Explored new ways to finance conservation

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Historical Review

• Wildlife + forestry departments + park service placed under the new National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC)

• Reorganization of the the park system into 10 conservation areas, each with a regional council designed to enhance community involvement

“President Figueres devoted more attention to the environmental cause than had any head of state in Costa

Rican History”

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Historical Review

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1995: Environmental Law (Ministry of Environment and Energy)

1996: New Forest Law (defines Environmental Services, provides funds)

1997: Payment for Environmental Services Program (PPSA): 600.000 ha (1997-2007)

1998: Biodiversity Law (reinforce SINAC)

26% of the territory is protected (1.3 Mha, 87% state – 13% private)

Historical Review

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Conclusions

Foreign scientific expertise and financial capital have been indispensable for the success of nearly every national park, government agency and regulatory reform

Timely application of domestic political resources (process expertise, social networks, agenda, setting resources and political learning)

All major policy reforms require a long-term commitment

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Conclusions

Foreign environmentalists share great interest in conservation outcomes in developing countries, but they lack the political legitimacy and the long-term presence

They concentrate on other comparative advantage: technical and financial aid

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Conclusions

Interpersonal bonds of trust often provide the “glue” that institutions cannot. The social networks that environmental leaders rely on are personal, reciprocal and no contractual

Where government institutions are weak, individuals are the primary source of institutional memory

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