Description
Book SynopsisA readable history of how Costa Rica established a national park system as a response to rapid destruction of its tropical ecosystems.
Trade ReviewUsing a wide range of sources, including interviews, archives, and newspapers, Evans paints a complex and nuanced picture of how conservation emerged in twentieth-century Costa Rica....This lucid and thoughtful work will be useful to historians and policymakers, and as a textbook for graduate and undergraduate courses on agriculture, development, and conservation in Latin America. * Hispanic American Historical Review *
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I. Costa Rica's History of Conservation
- 1. A Legacy of Scientific Thought and Tropical Research
- 2. The Environmental Problem
- 3. The Conservationist Response
- 4. The Development of National Parks and Other Protected Areas
- 5. Conservation Continued: The Oduber Years
- 6. Conservation through Crisis: Carazo and the Economy
- 7. Crisis Continued: The Monge Administration
- 8. Restructuring and Decentralizing Conservation
- Part II. Building a Green Republic
- 9. Environmental Education: Framework for the Future
- 10.The Nongovernmental Approach
- 11. ¡Oro Verde! Ecotourism for Economic Growth
- 12. The National Biodiversity Institute
- Conclusion. "Picking Up the Gauntlet"
- Appendix 1. List of Acronyms
- Appendix 2. The Presidents of the Republic of Costa Rica, 1928-1998
- Appendix 3. The History of Controversy at Santa Rosa--A Besieged National Park
- Appendix 4. Anonymous Poem Regarding the Palo Verde National Park Controversy, Summer 1981
- Appendix 5. The National Conservation Strategy for Sustainable Development
- Appendix 6. Indigenous Population of Costa Rica by Region and Group
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
