Costa Rica Presents a Dilemma
It’s hard to talk about Costa Rica without talking about nature. Its varied landscape includes 12 different ecosystems, ranging from tropical rain forests and cloud forests to snow capped mountains. It boasts 9000 types of flowering plants, including 1200 species of orchids, some 850 species of birds and 250 species of mammals. More than 5% of all known species of plant and animal life are found in this small country, about the size of West Virginia.
Nature is what draws travelers and expats from Europe as well as North and South America here. Those who want to live amid the flora and fauna, however, face a dilemma. Should you make a home here knowing that such an action contributes to the destruction of some part of the ecosystem?
The director of sales at one development says, “If we wanted to do the right thing, we would all tear down our homes here, reforest and leave.”
The Tamarindo Preserve is one real estate development trying to have it both ways. It’s a low-density development in the seaside town of Tamarindo in the northwest of the country. A laid back community known for its turtle watching tours, Tamarindo draws visitors and foreign residents from all parts of the world. The Tamarindo Preserve calls for 235 villas and 40 condos on just 8% of a 600-acre parcel of land. Some of the proceeds from the housing will go toward protecting the wetlands and estuary that make up the rest of the parcel.
Increasingly, too, resorts and hotels here try to attract clientele by showing that they can be environmentally friendly. Although 25% of Costa Rica’s land mass is devoted to parks and reserves, the country lacks the necessary money to maintain them properly and enforce the laws to protect them. Developers can play a positive role here.