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Teddy Roosevelt, the Matterhorn and ecological tourism in Costa Rica – The beginnings

Like so many of the world’s great success stories, it began with a simple observation from an extraordinary man.

The man was Theodore Roosevelt.

Twenty years before he became one of America’s greatest presidents, Roosevelt had traveled to Europe to climb Switzerland’s famous Matterhorn. What he found or, more accurately, what he did not find distressed him greatly.

The mountain was almost lifeless. Where once there were many animals, there were no longer bears, wolves, goats, mountain sheep, or other desert creatures.

Although the term did not enter the lexicon for almost another century, Roosevelt was the world’s first ecotourist and, I would argue, the person most responsible for conservation in the United States. Based in part on his experience on the Matterhorn, he recognized the need to set aside vast tracts of wilderness to save it for future generations.

When he became president, over the objections of vested interests, mining and logging companies, and robber barons, he set aside an extraordinary 230 million acres for wilderness, parks, and refuges.

His vision led him to the discovery that the American public loved to go to national parks and see wildlife. Sustainability proved more profitable over time than exploitation.

But, that was the experience of the United States. What about Costa Rica, a place that in 1519 its Spanish governor called “the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all of America”?

By the mid-20th century, most of its forests had been cut down or burned to convert to farmland. The country had become dependent on the export of bananas and coffee for its economic life, and when the world coffee market collapsed in the 1970s, its future looked bleak.

But, in an unlikely alliance, conservationists joined with business interests and convinced the government to set aside vast tracts of land for sustainable development. In just three decades, Costa Rica allocated almost 25% of the country to parks and reserves.

By any measure, the results have been impressive. While many countries felled, slashed and burned their forests, Costa Rica chose to reforest and today jaguars, peccaries and other wildlife are returning to places where they have not been seen for more than a generation. With the animals came tourists and prosperity.

Today, researchers at Columbia and Yale rank it in the top five of all environmentally sensitive countries on the planet, and from “the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in the Americas” in 1519, it jumped to the number 1 position for the most happy. in the World Index.

Somewhere in heaven, Theodore Roosevelt beams with delight.