The Green Republic: A Conservation History of Costa Rica / Edition 1

by Sterling Evans

Overview

With over 25 percent of its land set aside in national parks and other protected areas, Costa Rica is renowned worldwide as "the green republic." In this very readable history of conservation in Costa Rica, Sterling Evans explores the establishment of the country's national park system as a response to the rapid destruction of its tropical ecosystems due to the expansion of export-related agriculture.

Drawing on interviews with key players in the conservation movement, as well as archival research, Evans traces the emergence of a conservation ethic among Costa Ricans and the tangible forms it has taken. In Part I, he describes the development of the national park system and "the grand contradiction" that conservation occurred simultaneously with massive deforestation in unprotected areas. In Part II, he examines other aspects of Costa Rica's conservation experience, including the important roles played by environmental education and nongovernmental organizations, campesino and indigenous movements, ecotourism, and the work of the National Biodiversity Institute.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292721012
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	04/01/1999
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	335
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sterling Evans teaches environmental history at Humboldt State University in northern California.

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

Editorial Reviews

Using 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

Using 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" (8/1/2000 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher

Using 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 - Stuart McCook