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Costa Rica: Citizen Diplomacy Across Borders Through Ecotourism and Global Sustainability

November 18, 2020

Costa Rica has long been a pioneer of protecting peace and nature - a trailblazer of global sustainability and climate change mediation, Costa Rica was awarded the 2019 Champions of the Earth Award by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, 2020).

Costa Rica continues to contribute to global sustainability by promoting citizen diplomacy across borders through ecotourism and sustainable tourism. Visitors engage in responsible traveling by participating in activities such as staying at eco-lodges, visiting Costa Rica’s 29 national parks, 19 wildlife refuges, and 8 biological reserves, hiking coffee and chocolate plantations, exploring local farms, zip-lining through lush rainforests, volunteering with mangrove reforestation projects, and much, much more (Ecotourism, 2020).

As a result of the country’s environmental initiatives, nonprofits and government agencies around the world have recognized Costa Rica as a ‘Champion of the Earth’, and collaborate to head cross-border conservation efforts. For example, Conservation International is an American nonprofit environmental organization, with offices in 29 countries and 2,000 partners worldwide, that runs on citizen diplomacy and collaborations through global partnerships (Conservation, n.d.). Conservation International acts with the goal of “empower[ing] societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature, our global biodiversity, [and] for the well-being of humanity” (Conservation, n.d.)) and actively promotes conservation programs in Costa Rica:

“In the community of Montero on Chira Island, 23 women planted nearly 8,000 mangroves in degraded areas over the course of a year, with support from Conservation International and Costa Rica’s Ministry of Education.” (Conservation, n.d.).

Mangrove reforestation is one of the key efforts of Costa Rica in leading the global effort to slow climate change, and one of the key ways for ecotourists to become involved in the climate effort while visiting Costa Rica. As such, Costa Rican mangrove reforestation projects have been established in part to create an opportunity for collaboration among foreign student groups visiting the nation with other international visitors and locals - working together to achieve a common goal of increased global sustainability and biodiversity.

I personally participated in ecotourism in Costa Rica while on an educational and volunteer service trip in high school, during which my cohort volunteered with a Mangrove Project in Palo Seco, collecting fallen mangrove propagules and planting mangrove nurseries. During the trip, it was evident that despite cultural differences, commonality existed between people from different countries and backgrounds who shared similar values about the environment and our responsibility as global citizens. While I volunteered during this service-learning project restoring mangrove nurseries for reforestation, a representative from the mangrove conservation project explained the world-wide negative effects caused by mangrove deforestation and reiterated the importance of conservation and sustainability efforts across borders.

It was moving to see how many mangroves had been reforested as individuals and groups from around the world visited the project to volunteer and collaborate together in conservation efforts. This experience, shared by many other citizen diplomats engaging in responsible travel, was an innovative and memorable way to bridge ecotourism with mangrove reforestation and global climate change mediation efforts. Costa Rican mangrove projects promote citizen diplomacy byway of environmental citizenship - helping tourists from around the world understand the importance of biodiversity through ecotourism, benefitting local and global climate through cross-border collaboration in conservation efforts.

Stephanie Stan

Global Ties Detroit Programming and Communications Intern, Fall 2020

Sources:

Costa Rica. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://www.conservation.org/places/costa-rica

Ecotourism. (2020, May 14). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://www.visitcostarica.com/en/costa-rica/things-to-do/ecoturism

Nominations open for UNEP's Champions of the Earth award 2020. (2020). Retrieved November 12, 2020, from https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/nominations-open-uneps-champions-earth-award-2020

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