TAKING
NATURE SERIOUSLY
Costa
Rica is blessed with an incredible biodiversity of plants, insects, birds, animals
like monkeys and sloths and tapirs and wild cats like jaguars and ocelots, and reptiles
and amphibians like poison dart frogs! Only the size of West Virginia, this
Central American country is home to around 5% of all species on this planet.
There are 900 species of birds and 250 species of mammals that live in Costa Rica.
There are hundreds of thousands of insect species and between butterflies and
moths there are around 2,000 different species. With all these critters and the
5 active volcanoes, the 12 different microclimates that go from the Pacific to
the Caribbean oceans and with all the whitewater rivers, to waterfalls, to
tropical jungles to rainforests and cloud forests, Costa Rica is an ecotourist’s
paradise destination.
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| white-faced monkey |
It is
overwhelming to this traveler because there is so much to see and do there, and
we really didn’t give it a chance. Throughout our trip as more of this splendid
area of the world revealed itself to us, Janet and I lamented we did not plan
the trip well. We saw and did a lot in Costa Rica and later in Panama, but we
simply didn’t have enough time and much of our excursions were scatter dash. And, now we won’t be able to return for a while.
All National Parks of Costa Rica are closed due to the Covid-19 virus until April
12 and as of March 18 their border is closed so only citizens, residents and foreign
diplomats are allowed entry and others who entered just previously are to
self-quarantine for at least 14 days.
Not only is
the health of her citizens important to Costa Rica, but the country takes strident
steps to protect the biodiversity health of the animals and plants. Even before
this pandemic began to spread Costa Rican National Parks maintained strict
rules towards sustaining the harmony of the wildlife. Manuel Antonio National Park is the most
visited park in Costa Rica and is popular with tourists and Ticos alike, but
not just because it has exotic animals living free, but also has four beautiful
beaches. To maintain a harmonious sustainability of the biodiversity in the
park the number of visitors is limited daily and all bags are searched for food.
We did see a number of coolers being brought in, presumably for drinks at one
of the beaches, but no food was allowed into the park. It was explained to us
that this would prevent animals getting fed by humans thereby maintaining a
more natural approach to living. If they did come to rely on humans for food
and that source is suddenly stopped, as is the current case with this global
pandemic, their survival would be threatened in suddenly having to fend for food. Costa Rica's serious approach to the sustainability of the biodiversity of their country is well thought out. .
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| MANUEL ATONIO NP, CR |
Such is
not the case elsewhere in the world. Large populations of wild animals are routinely
fed by tourists in several Asian countries and now that everything has been
closed and people are quarantined the animals are having to search for food on their own. In
some cases, it is mayhem with monkeys fighting for orts in Thailand city plazas
or deer leaving the confines of the 1,200-acre Nara park in Japan to seek food. Normally the deer would never
leave the park and it was acceptable and popular for tourists to come to the park to feed them. Now that their food source has dwindled due to the restrictions imposed by the Covid19 outbreak the deer are roaming city streets dodging traffic wandering into subway stations and eating potted plants.
Costa Rica appreciates the beauty she is blessed with and strives to maintain harmony with nature.
For more details
on this particular issue here is a NY Times article:
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