Article #2 -
Costa Rica's pristine wilderness lures tourists, but at a price
Written By:
Zehra Nasirali
Date: 29
September, 1997
The island of Costa Rica is a home for it's endless sandy beaches, its baby blue waters and of coarse its astounding nature attracting tourists from all over the world. But with the tourist numbers rising everyday it is bound to cause problems to the wildlife. Things such ad pollution, cutting of trees to accommodate developing areas is already taking its toll. The new trend of going to Costa Rica has affected the main factor that attracts the tourists in the first place- the leatherback turtle. These natural beauties of Costa Rica are indicators for the oceans health but in spite of that, they are endangered by oil spills and litter, plastic bags in particular for what the turtles consider to be their main source of food- jellyfish.
In my opinion, the government should ban hotels and resorts that are being built close to the beaches and if they fail to obey this they should be fined at an expensive amount. The government should also ban the destroying of the flora and fauna so they can be present in the future and so that they can satisfy the tourist demand. However, it is the interrupting presence of humans that are gradually killing the leatherbacks and yet we selfish humans have no concerns. Instead we are greedy for more land and on top of that we are harming the environment by logging and agricultural demands. Littering should be conserved so that it not only saves the lives of sea creatures but it also maintains the neatness of the beaches. With the help of the government, concerned guides will be heard and be successful in preserving the healthy nature of Costa Rica. The bottom line is that we humans are to blame and are responsible for our own acts. It is us who can beautify ecosystems and on the other hand it is us who can harm and destroy ecosystems. In addition, I think we should carry on Mother Teresa’s words and save and help the environment in general.
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DATE: September 21, 1997
SOURCES: KIOSK:CBCA
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