Page 486 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

456 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

example for developing countries that economic well-being can be compatible
with forest preservation.

The Importance of Sustainability
Historically deforestation has been a cancer in Costa Rica. It started after 1945
and then peaked during the 1960s when the US government offered cattle
ranchers millions of dollars in loans to produce beef for US consumption.
Then in the 1990’s Costa Rica had one of the worst deforestation rates in
Central America. Costa Rica has successfully managed to diminish defores-
tation from one of the worst rates to zero achieved in 2005 (note that this report
differs from the table report for 2005). I do not believe that zero is an
attainable goal, but small numbers would be ideal. Unfortunately, the table
even shows an increase from the year 2000!

Year Forest Cleared (acres)
1977 128,495
1983 107,614
1985 103,784
1987 79,074
1991 44,348
1996 44,479
2000 7,495
2005 11,705

The response of Costa Rica, whether private local groups or government, or
even foreign organizations interested in helping the environment obtain sus-
tainable living conditions, has been incredibly good and effective. The pro-
grams are particularly ambitious, and with the country having a high level of
biodiversity and ecozones that are relatively small much progress has been
made to reforest it. One program that has helped minimize deforestation is the
National Bamboo Project of Costa Rica founded in 1986. What they do is to
plant indigenous giant bamboo, which is then used instead of timber as the
primary building material at low cost for Costa Rica’s rural poor. Another area
that has helped and is helping Costa Rica in sustainable living is “ecotourism,”
that is, the ability to raise revenue through tourism while at the same time
protecting the forests, lakes, rivers, and seas. There are various programs such
as recycling, trash pick up, walking only in trails, limiting the number of
people that can visit a given area, some of which involve participation of the
tourist in preserving the environment.

A Model for Other Areas

The Arbofilia Asociacion Protectora de Arboles, one of the many groups that
keeps an eye and takes action to protect the environment, has an ambitious