The Green Republic: A Conservation History of Costa Rica

Evans, Sterling | from Multimedia Library Collection:
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Evans, Green Republic. Front cover.

Evans, Sterling. “A Legacy of Scientific Thought and Tropical Research,” “The Environmental Problem,” and “The Conservationist Response.” Chapters 1–3 in The Green Republic: A Conservation History of Costa Rica. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1999. 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 his 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, a portion of which is featured here, 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. (Based on TUP website text). All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999 by the University of Texas Press.