Guidelines for sustainable ecotourism in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Tourists are increasingly attracted to the world’s natural wonders (Honey 1999). The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) recognized that tourism can also negatively impact the natural areas and formulated guidelines for the proper management of ecotourism. Costa Rican tourism has experienced a boom in the past two decades, and one of its most popular destinations is Monteverde, an area composed of many private reserves. Eleven of these reserves were investigated using the guidelines provided by the CBD. It was found that Monteverde’s private reserves followed some guidelines, such as offering local employment, local access to reserves and following good waste management. However, there is not enough monitoring of biodiversity on the part of the reserves, many reserves do not have rules or regulations for tourists to follow, and a lot of reserves do not offer environmental education programs or community outreach. This study recommends that each reserve make a permanent plan outlying how it will protect biodiversity in light of increased ecotourism. Los turistas están sumamente atraídos a las maravillas naturales del mundo. La Convención de la Diversidad Biológica (CBD por sus siglas en inglés) reconoce que el turismo puede también impactar negativamente en las áreas naturales y formular directrices para el manejo adecuado del ecoturismo. El turismo en Costa Rica ha experimentado un incremento acelerado en las últimas dos décadas, y uno de los destinos mas populares es Monteverde, un area compuesta principalmente por reservas privadas. Once de estas reservas fueron investigadas usando estas directrices provistas por el CBD.https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/tropical_ecology/1285/thumbnail.jp