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Development of an Environmental Conscience: A Conservation History of Costa Rica
Evans, Sterling
Evans, Sterling
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Abstract
Costa Rica proves to be an exemplary case study for the development
of a national environmental conscience. This thesis
examines what such a conscience entails, how it developed historically,
hew it was tested and challenged, and finally hew it is
manifested in society today. Conservation is the yardstick by
which this environmental conscience can be measured in Costa
Rica. Research for this paper concentrated specifically on land
use patterns—from the beginnings of the agricultural era to the
contemporary experience of protecting lands through national forests,
parks, and biological reserves. The result is that fully
one quarter of Costa Rican territory now is protected in one form
or another. Hew this occurred against economic pressures to develop
is analyzed herein. Likewise, that much of the history of
these conservation successes occurred during a time of great economic
crisis fueled both curiosity and interest in investigating
this Costa Rican conservationist model. Tb accomplish this goal
meant studying as much pertinent literature in the field as possible
(especially the works written by those most personally involved
in this area), meeting with seme of these individuals to discuss
their views, and visiting on site some of the agencies (both
governmental and private) that play a role in Costa Rican conservation
issues. The end product is this thesis which attempts to
fuse these elements together to show the development of an environmental
conscience through the country's history of conservation.
Description
The University of Kansas has long historical connections with Central America and the many Central
Americans who have earned graduate degrees at KU. This work is part of the Central American Theses
and Dissertations collection in KU ScholarWorks and is being made freely available with permission of the
author through the efforts of Professor Emeritus Charles Stansifer of the History department and the staff of
the Scholarly Communications program at the University of Kansas Libraries’ Center for Digital Scholarship.
Date
1992-12-07
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University of Kansas