The Politics of the Environment in Costa Rica



Costa Rica has become the first country in Latin America to begin reforestation. Unlike every other country in the region, the rainforests in Costa Rica are growing rather than shrinking. This is not a feat that happened overnight, in fact in the 1970's Costa Rica had the highest rate of deforestation in Latin America. So how did they get from cutting down the most trees to growing their forests in 50 years? 

It all starts with Costa Rica's political stability and its Constitution. Costa Rica has been continuously classified as a democracy since 1949. This means that, unlike Mexico, they have had elections where 2 or more parties have been competitive, and that, unlike Argentina, Brazil, and many others, there has always been a peaceful transition of power. Additionally, Costa Rica has been able to keep the same Constitution in place this whole time. Costa Rica's 1949 Constitution is especially important in the narrative because it has key articles giving rights and protections to the environment. Articles 50 and 89 both guarantee Costa Ricans the right to a healthy and thriving environment, and preserve the country's "natural beauties". While these principles have not always been followed, they do provide solid footing for legislation aimed at protecting the environment.

Both political parties in the country, the Christian Unity Party and the Party of National Liberation, have adopted environmentalism as part of their platform. The process of reclaiming the forests really picked up in 2006 with the election of the PLN's Oscar Aires. Aires ran on a platform of environmental reform, with a message of making Costa Rica carbon neutral. He called it a political third way, wanting to reclaim energy and environmental independence for Costa Rica while still growing the economy. This third way has been adopted by subsequent administrations as well. 



Getting Costa Rica to a place where reforestation is happening, and to a place where it is carbon neutral in the future, are almost non-partisan issues. The Costa Rican government has implemented many policies to promote reforestation. For example, there is a fund that allows the government to subsidize farmers so that they do not cut down forests for new farmland. The Costa Rican government also restricts the number of logging permits it hands out and has a national forestry commission that diligently monitors the forests. These seem like policies that would be a huge economic drain on the country, however Costa Rica's GDP has continually risen over the last 20 years. How does this happen?

Eco-tourism has become a massive money maker for Costa Rica in recent years. Almost half of the country's GDP comes from some form of tourism, and all of this money would not be possible without the rainforests. People flock to Costa Rica each year to experience the gifts the forests have to offer. In this way the forests pay for their own protection, and become a renewable resource as people keep coming each year. The money from tourism has also allowed Costa Rica to have some of the highest levels of development and standard of living in all of Latin America. 



The US would be wise to support efforts like Costa Rica's throughout the region. Latin America is home to the largest rainforest in the world, and it is slowly but surely being cut down for economic gain. If the US were to fund subsidy efforts like those found in Costa Rica it could go a long way towards reversing deforestation. The US gains from this in the long term as well. The costs of global climate change will be immense for the US, not only in dollar terms but also with regards to security. By helping to establish, finance, and vocally support preventative measures like those found in Costa Rica, the US would be investing in its own future as well as helping to provide new sources of income and security for nations in Latin America that have historically been lacking in these areas. 

- Evan

Bibliography 

Corbley, Andy. “How Costa Rica Slowed, Stopped, Then Reversed Deforestation in Their Rainforests.” Good News Network, July 30, 2020. https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/costa-rica-slows-stops-and-reverses-deforestation/.

Costa Rican Federal Government. Constitution of 1949. Constituent Assembly. San Jose: 1949, website https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Costa_Rica_2011.pdf 

Meyer, Peter J. "COSTA RICA: BACKGROUND AND U.S. RELATIONS." Current Politics and Economics of South and Central America 4, no. 1 (2011): 131-150. http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/docview/1707985370?accountid=14244.

Roberto, Dobles Mora. "COSTA RICA'S COMMITMENT." UN Chronicle 44, no. 2 (06, 2007): 42-43,47. http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/docview/218152379?accountid=14244.

Wood, Johnny. “Costa Rica Has Doubled Its Tropical Rainforests in Just a Few Decades. Here’s How.” World Economic Forum , June 13, 2019. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/06/costa-rica-has-doubled-its-tropical-rainforests-in-just-a-few-decades-here-s-how/.




 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A 2020 Catch-Up

Image
A lot has happened in the world of Latin American politics since I last posted here in August of 2020. There is absolutely no feasible way for me to cover everything in the in-depth way that I would like to. Instead, here I will cover the highlights, writing a few sentences about each, as well as link an article about each one if you would like to read more about any particular event.  We'll start in Bolivia . Bolivians went to the polls in mid October to participate in a much anticipated presidential election. This was the first election since the ousting of long time president Evo Morales. Months before the election, Morales, who had held power since 2006, resigned the office of the presidency amid pressure from the armed forces and a growing mass protest movement. However, his party was still able to prevail at the polls as Bolivians chose Luis Arce to be their next president. Arce was a key member of the Morales Administration, and his victory signaled the continued prominence ...
Read more

Brazil's Coronavirus Nightmare

Image
  This week Brazil became the second nation to record over 100,000 deaths from Covid-19, the other being the United States. Brazil is Latin America's largest economy and is well developed by regional standards. Moreover, the nation has a history of dealing with public health crises. Only four years ago in 2016 Brazil was hit with an outbreak of Zika, a virus spread through mosquitoes that causes birth defects. Many at the time worried that Zika would spread throughout Latin America and cause harm to a generation of children. This did not happen, Brazil's health ministry worked diligently under the leadership of then President Dilma Rousseff to track outbreaks and administer care. So what's different this time around?  Almost all of Brazil's problems combating the coronavirus can be traced back to a singular event, the election of Jair Bolsonaro as President in October of 2018. Bolsonaro, a member of the far-right Social Liberal Party, defeated Fernando Haddad, a member ...
Read more

The Bolivian Elections

Image
The Bolivian Election Commission issued a statement recently saying that the long-awaited presidential election will be held on October 18th. However, this is no ordinary election for the country. To fully understand its significance, and the candidates who are running, it is necessary to go back to the last Bolivian election in October of 2019.  October 2019 saw Evo Morales run for an unprecedented and constitutionally suspect fourth term as president. Morales had been in power since 2005 when he and his party, Movement For Socialism (MAS), took power from the center-right incumbent Carlos Mesa. This election was impactful not just for Bolivia, but for Latin America as a whole. Morales was one of the first fully indigenous presidents in Latin America, and his policies signaled a shift to the left throughout the region after years of neoliberal economic reforms under center-right leaders. In 2016, Morales issued a nationwide referendum on amending the Constitution to allow him to r...
Read more