The Consumption of Conservation: Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Abstract

Ecotourism has put pressure on the Costa Rican peasant not only to get a job in the ecotourism industry, but also participate in the ideology of nature-as-aesthetic - that is, the view that nature is a spectacle that must be experienced for its authenticity in a world where unchecked consumption has destroyed much of the "pristine" natural world. Costa Rica, which still has much of its rain forests, stands in a position to sidestep global trends and forestall consumption of their economic base in favour of turning the forest into another kind of resource, one that can be exploited for spectacle, and therefore without consuming it. However, one cannot claim that a Costa Rican worker's move from a peasant position to that of a tourism worker has been voluntary. This essay will marshal secondary research and first-hand tourist experience to show that the Costa Rican has been strongly influenced by lobby groups, government education programs and forest development projects which corral them into a position as "aesthetic labourer," one who must satisfy the ecotourist's desire for spectacle. For the most part, this has been accomplished, and now the process of education or indoctrination is self-perpetuating, but the industry itself may not be. The ecotourism industry will still have to change consumption patterns and avoid the ideological pitfall that consumption is always total and inevitable.