The Importance of Ecotourism as a Development and Conservation Tool in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica

Transcription

1 The Imprtance f Ecturism as a Develpment and Cnservatin Tl in the Osa Peninsula, Csta Rica Key Findings Prepared by Laura Driscll, Carter Hunt, Martha Hney and William Durham Center fr Respnsible Travel (CREST) April 2011 Washingtn, DC 1333 H St., NW Suite 300 East Twer Washingtn, DC P: F: Stanfrd University 450 Serra Mall, Building 50, Rm 51D Stanfrd, CA P: F: inf@respnsibletravel.rg

2 Map f the Osa Peninsula Surce: Mn Travel, Peninsula.jpg Page 1

3 Key Findings The Osa Peninsula is the last remaining sectin f Csta Rica s Pacific cast where ecturism is the dminant ecnmic activity. It therefre ffers a unique pssibility t grund test the ecnmic, scial and envirnmental impacts f ecturism cmpared with ther emplyment alternatives as well as t make pssible sme cmparisns with the type f large-scale resrt and vacatin hme turism prevalent alng the nrthern and central Pacific cast. The fllwing are the key findings that emerged frm this field study. Resident Surveys The field team cnducted 128 interviews with lcal residents f the Osa in and arund Drake Bay and Puert Jimenez, including 70 interviews with ecldge emplyees and 58 with residents nt wrking in turism. The ecldge emplyees included husekeepers, kitchen staff, bar and wait staff, maintenance and grunds wrkers, and frnt desk emplyees; managers are cvered in a separate categry. The ccupatins f nn-turism wrkers included agriculturalists and livestck managers, shpkeepers, schl teachers, medical prfessinals, small business wners, and members f lcal skilled trades. Here are sme key findings frm these interviews: Lcal emplyment: Turism wrkers are yunger, mre predminantly male, and far mre likely t be frm the Osa than nn-turism wrkers (58% cmpared with 35%). This indicates that small-scale nature-based turism is an imprtant emplyment pprtunity fr the Osa and that, unlike many ther turism destinatins, turism is nt built significantly n imprted labr. Expansin f ecturism therefre wuld appear t be a gd tl fr helping t curb utward migratin frm the Osa Peninsula. Incme: Turism wrkers mnthly incme is almst twice as high as thse f wrkers nt in turism ($ versus $357.12). Further, turism wrkers reprted that their ttal mnthly husehld incmes were 1.6 times higher than husehlds where n ne wrks in turism ($784 vs. $503). Therefre, ecturism in the Osa is generating higher incmes fr lcal residents than emplyment in the ther lcally-available types f emplyment, even during the wrst mnths f the year. Husehld expenditures: Spending patterns are rughly the same fr husehlds with and withut turism wrkers, althugh husehlds with turism wrkers have mre dispsable incme ($338 per mnth vs. $162). Further, turism wrkers were tw times mre likely than nn-turism wrkers t feel that their jbs had allwed them t prgress. Attitudes twards the future: Emplyment in turism is viewed as a stepping stne t new emplyment r t management-level pprtunities. Turism wrkers reprted they are far less likely than nn-turism wrkers t be in their present jb in the future. Rather Page 2

4 turism emplyees are mre likely t have changed jbs t psitins f greater skill and mre likely t want t start their wn turism related business. Turism wrkers exhibit a greater entrepreneurial spirit and willingness t change jbs accrding t pprtunities and persnal gals than d nn-turism wrkers. Quality f life: While bth turism and nn-turism wrkers said they feel they are living a gd life, the percentage was higher fr turism wrkers (74% vs. 66%). In additin, turism wrkers were als almst 3 times as likely t emphasize the imprtance f stable wrk as part f quality f life. Turism Expansin: A majrity f bth turism wrkers and nn-turism wrkers indicated a desire t see mre turists arriving in the Osa (63% fr turism wrkers and 76% fr nn-turism wrkers). Hwever, turism wrkers gave a much higher percentage f qualified answers (16% vs. nly 2% frm thse nt wrking in turism), suggesting that turism wrkers have greater familiarity with the ptential negative impacts f turism. Attitudes twards current issues facing the Osa: New internatinal airprt: Turism wrkers were better infrmed (87% vs. 57%) abut building a new internatinal airprt at Palmar Sur, and were mre likely ppsed t (25% vs. 5%). Hwever, a majrity in bth grups favr the airprt, viewing it as bringing develpment and increasing emplyment pprtunities. Cruise ships in Glf Dulce: By nearly the same percentages, bth grups see cruise ships as psitive: 48% in favr, 12% against fr turism wrkers and 45% in favr and 19% against fr nn-turism wrkers. Presence f freigners: Turism wrkers were mre than twice as likely as nn-turism wrkers t have a negative pinin abut freign-wned hmes in the Osa (37% fr turism wrkers vs. 17% nn-turism), while bth grups view sales f land t freigners as mre negative (31% and 34%) than psitive (19% and 22%). On the ther hand, bth grups felt that the presence f freigners was mre psitive (30% and 29%) than negative (14% and 12%). This wuld indicate a smewhat negative attitude twards freign vacatin hme and prperty wners, particularly amng turism wrkers, while the verall presence f freigners is seen as mre psitive than negative. Natinal parks: Bth grups gave verwhelmingly psitive respnses twards natinal parks: 85% psitive fr turism wrkers, and 74% fr nn-turism wrkers. This appears t represent a substantial shift in the attitudes f Osa residents wh histrically ppsed the tp dwn declaratin f Crcvad and Page 3

5 ther parks and the exclusin f lcal peple wh had depended n these lands fr their livelihds. This finding suggests that ecturism, with its cmmitment t benefiting bth lcal livelihds and the envirnment, plus gvernment and NGO effrts t prmte pverty alleviatin and create incme-generating alternatives fr cmmunities living in and near prtected areas, have helped t imprve lcal attitudes twards natinal parks. Envirnmental issues: Respndents frm bth turism wrk and nn-turism wrk verwhelmingly agreed that the wrst threat t lcal species diversity at the present time was hunting, fllwed by defrestatin. Yet 37.5% f nn-turism wrkers reprted they had extracted items (such as wd, plants, and seeds) frm the frest in the last year, cmpared t nly 17.5% -- less than half as many fr turism wrkers. While mre research is needed t understand the reasns behind these differences, ther studies fund that ecturism has sensitized emplyees t envirnmental issues. Overall, the tw grups bth see psitive changes in educatin, jb training, and value given t nature, and a decline in hunting and defrestatin. On the negative side, bth grups see increases in land and cnsumer prices, sale f land t freigners, and alchlism, drug addictin, and prstitutin. Hwever, the tw grups differed in whether r nt they attributed these changes t turism. Thse nt wrking in turism were less likely t attribute either perceived benefits r perceived detriments t the impacts f the turism industry. In the case f pprtunities fr jb training and lcal value f nature, turism wrkers felt verwhelmingly that the increases were due t the impacts f turism, whereas mre ambivalence was shwn by the nn-turism grup. Htel Owner/Manager Surveys The surveys with turism and nn-turism wrkers were supplemented with surveys f wners and managers frm 11 htels t help determine envirnmental, scial, and ecnmic practices and perceptins. While the sample was small, it included sme f the better knwn ecldges in and arund Drake Bay and Puert Jimenez. They range in size frm 4 t 20 rms and have between 1 and 45 emplyees. The interview pl included five Csta Ricans, five U.S. expatrits, ne German and ne Swiss (in ne htel, tw different wners tk part).. Many f the findings seem surprising given the green reputatin f the Osa and its ecturism sectr. While the htel executives clearly have a deeper understanding f the threats t the Osa psed by uncntrlled turism develpment, in practice they seem t be ding relatively little t mnitr and measure the impacts f their wn businesses r t invest in staff training and prcedures t reduce their envirnmental ftprints. The mst significant findings frm these manager interviews included: Nne f their htels are CST certified, althugh several have initiated the prcess. Being small htels, a number said they d nt even have enugh staff t maintain Page 4

6 detailed accunts. They urged CST t prvide mre assistance t help with the certificatin prcess. Similarly, nly a few beaches in the Osa including Playa Blanca near Puert Jimenez, Matapal at the tip f the Peninsula, and Playa San Pedrill in the nrth f Crcvad Natinal Park have received Eclgical Blue Flag certificatin. Just ver half (6 f 11) say their htels are vlunteering time r cntributing material resurces r funds t supprt cmmunity and cnservatin prjects. Hwever, turist participatin in these travelers philanthrpy prjects was even less at mst htels in the sample, ranging frm zer t 20%. But the prven recrd f htels in Osa with successful prjects is prf cncept: there is great ptential fr expanding these effrts in Osa. In terms f envirnmental practices, mst f thse interviewed reprt having high quality waste management and septic systems. Hwever, all but ne htel receive electricity frm the grid; fur supplement this with slar and three with hydr pwer. (An fficial with the gvernment-run electricity cmpany, ICE, said that 85 percent f the cmpany s electricity is frm renewable surces, water, slar, and wind.) In additin, few have systems fr mnitring and measuring water and energy use, slid waste prductin, r use f txic chemicals. Only ne htel has a system t identify, mnitr, and keep recrd f its negative envirnmental impacts. In terms f climate change, nne ffer n-site pprtunities fr turists t ff-set the carbn impact f their travel t Csta Rica, and nly ne reprted cntributing directly t a carbn ff-setting rganizatin. They expressed strng cncerns abut a lack f effective lcal gvernment, the difficulties in securing land tenure and clear prperty titles, and the pssibility that unplanned and large-scale develpment as has happened in Guanacaste wuld cme t the Osa. Three f thse surveyed were utspkenly ppsed t building the new internatinal airprt. Turist Surveys The field research teams interviewed a ttal f 73 turists, nearly evenly divided between men and wmen, wh stayed n average 5.5 nights in the Osa. They ranged in age frm 19 t 70, with a mean age fr wmen f 41 and fr men f 38. In terms f their views, activities, and spending patterns, the mst imprtant findings were: Reasn fr visiting the Osa: The tp reasn was t visit Crcvad Natinal Park, with the tw runner s ups being the recmmendatin f a friend and the regin s reputatin fr unspiled trpical wilderness. Page 5

7 Mst ppular activities: Underscring the imprtance f healthy natural envirnments, visitrs listed their fur tp activities as hiking (66%), phtgraphy (64%), bird watching (64%), and natinal park turs (62%). Imprtance f respnsible travel: Tw-thirds (64%) said traveling respnsibly was very imprtant r imprtant t them, and ver 80% said that it was imprtant that their htel be scially and envirnmentally respnsible. Hwever, nly 8% said they had purchased carbn credits fr their travel, while 73% said they did nthing t verify their htel s envirnmental practices and 81% said they had dne nthing t verify the htel s scial practices. Further, nly 18% f travelers surveyed had heard f the Certificatin fr Sustainable Turism (CST) prgram. Therefre while mst turists visiting the Osa say they are cncerned abut traveling in ways that are scially and envirnmentally respnsible, few are taking any cncrete actins t d s. Cst f travel: It prved challenging t calculate csts because turists cme t the Osa in a variety f ways and were interviewed at varius stages f their stays. Hwever, csts can be, rughly, divided int thse fr package and nn-package visits. Independent travelers were fund t stay an average f 5.5 days and spend n average $888. Package tur travelers stayed an average f 5.6 days and spent n average a ttal f $2150. Because f the assumptins and extraplatins, figures shuld be taken as apprximatins. Willingness t pay: Turists surveyed perceive their visit t the Osa t be a gd value whether they were n package turs r traveling independently. Out f 73 visitrs surveyed, 44 (66%) indicated a willingness t pay mre than they had fr the same experience in the Osa an average f $177 mre. Of this amunt, they expressed a willingness t pay n average $42 mre fr a visit t Crcvad Natinal Park. In additin, 42 (58%) f visitrs said they were willing t cntribute n average $68 mre t supprt lcal prjects in the Osa. This indicates strng supprt amng visitrs fr the idea f travelers philanthrpy. Hwever, at present nly 6 f the 11 htels whse managers were surveyed have travelers philanthrpy prgrams and nly a few are directly sliciting cntributins frm visitrs. Clearly the ptential exists in the Osa t generate mre mney frm turism by increasing the travel csts and by sliciting cntributins fr lcal prjects. Page 6