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- 1 - Of turtles and tactics Conservation and sustainable community development in San Francisco, Costa Rica Major Research Paper submitted to the Faculty of Environ- mental Studies in partial fulfi lment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Environment Studies, York Univer- sity Ontario, Canada. by Frederik J.W. van Oudenhoven Supervisor: Prof. Patricia E. Perkins Date of submission: 27 July 2007 © Frederik van Oudenhoven All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without consent from the author. Portrait of the author by Yakelin - San Francisco primary school Abstract A question often faced by conservationists in developing countries is whether their efforts to protect endangered species will ever work if they do not also address human poverty. Sea turtles are a classic example, and the source of an ongoing confl ict between the (global) conservation movement and people who have relied on them as a food source for hundreds of years. Inspired by high poaching rates on an as yet unstudied sea turtle nesting beach on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica, this paper attempts to elucidate the role that conservation agencies can play in the protection of the animals through the development of alternative livelihoods for poachers in the nearby village. It is argued that an approach of community development is necessary to, fi rstly, ensure that poachers benefi t from renouncing their previous livelihoods and lift their ‘veto’ over conservation efforts and, secondly, create the social fabric required to successfully sustain individual livelihood or community-based conservation projects in the future. The paper combines a practical analysis of the village’s livelihoods with a more conceptual exploration, based on the theory of autopoiesis, of the process of community development and how that process may be ‘manipulated’ to create ecologically responsive communities. Ackowledgements I dedicate this work to the 274 people that live in San Francisco. I thank them for the way in which they welcomed me, housed me, worked with me, fed me (even though I haven’t been able to eat rice and beans since) and broke my rib. They taught me much about life and even more about how to really speak Spanish. I still have hopes that one day, if I speak the language enough, I will get rid of your terrible accent. I also hope that the work we did together will bear many fruits. Three months after I had left San Francisco I received the sad news that Breidy Escorcía, a wonderful young boy that wanted to be an astronaut, had been killed by a crocodile. I dedicate this work to him and to the wellbeing of his family. Deepest appreciation goes out to COTERC and GVI and all their wonderful people. Greg, Tom, Mario Rasta, Jana, James (for the tripod…), Rebeca, everybody: you have given me an incredible learning experience and have supported me during the entire research process, not in the least by letting me stay at the fi eld station which is such a magical place. I hope that my work will prove useful to the station and its conservation efforts in the future. I am also very grateful for the fi nancial support I received for this research from the Fisher Fund for Neotropical Conservation. During my time at FES I have been surrounded by a few fantastic friends and mentors. Ellie, who, despite my terrible planning and profound desperation, took me on and somehow, with an optimism that to me seemed rather at odds with the laws of this universe, saw me through to the end of this journey. Bill, you are a very great teacher – thank you for all your help, for listening to all my complaining, and for reopening my eyes to the joys of African beer. Gail and Laurence, your wonderful friendship, generosity, cooking skills and printer saved my life, several times. Ginititica…gracias por su (!) ayuda y amistad… Many more people and their organisations have helped me with this research, through sharing their knowledge, their time and efforts, or providing feedback on sections of this paper: Carlos Calvo, (MINAE), Don Sergio, DINADECO, Royner Solano, INFOCOOP, Didiher Chacón, Emma Harrison, the CCC, Sebastian Troëng, Roger Zuniga, Howard Daugherty, Rebeca Chaverri, Rob Macdonald and Justin Podur…thank you all so much. The joy of writing the very last page of this paper would have been far far away were it not for the support and (some- times) gentle encouragement of my lovely parents. Then again, if it weren’t for them I wouldn’t have had to suffer the pain of writing the other 72 pages either. But that is a different story… Dank jullie wel! - 4 - Foreword This Major Paper and the work on which it is based were undertaken in partial fulfi lment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Environmental Studies. The area of concentration of this degree is titled “Ecodevelopment and Sustainable Livelihoods in the Developing World” and refl ects an interest in understanding the often confl ict- ing objectives of human (economic) development and securing ecological integrity, and the roles that communities, NGO’s and individuals (I) can play in their resolution. If asked to summarise my past two years of educational expe- rience, I would answer that it was a process (and in many ways a struggle) of making sense about the messy fi eld of international development and of the way in which I, as an outsider and a Westerner, can play a meaningful role in it. I think this paper refl ects that struggle. The fi eldwork in Costa Rica and refl ecting on it in this paper were instrumental in fulfi lling the learning objectives outlined in the Plan of Study: to a] further my understanding of ecology (sea turtle ecology and conservation, second chapter); b, c] learn about strategies for achieving sustainable livelihoods and how these are embedded in the cultural, political and economic system of a country (the sustainable livelihoods analysis described in chapter 1); and d] acquire the practical skills required to work in the fi eld, with communities and people of a different culture (Spanish language, participatory development techniques and survey/interview skills). Views expressed in this paper are the author’s alone and may not refl ect those of the organisations for which this study was conducted. Note: unless otherwise noted, all appendices, photographs, maps and other graphics were written and/or produced by the author. Appendices, if not attached to this paper, may be requested through fl [email protected] - 5 - Table of Contents Graphs & figures Introduction 8 Methodology 10 Chapter 1: Life and Livelihoods in San Francisco, Costa Rica 12 1.1 Bananas, SAPs and turtles – a historical perspective 12 14 Map of Costa Rica and Tortuguero area 15 Population growth in San Francisco; 1.2 ¡Tuannis, mae! – culture and demography in San Francisco 16 Origin of village’s residents 18 Village population pyramid 1.3 Livelihoods Analysis of San Francisco 19 1.3.1 A short introduction to the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach 19 1.3.2 The Vulnerability Context 19 1.3.3 Livelihood Assets 19 Human capital 22 Natural capital 22 Physical capital 26 Financial capital 26 27 Work and income in San Francisco 29 Resource and livelihoods calendar Social capital 30 Political capital 32 1.3.4 Transforming structures and processes (Institutional context) 32 3 4 Asset hexagon for San Francisco Chapter 2: Turtle Conservation in San Francisco 35 2.2 Sea turtle ecology and conservation status 36 2.3 Sea turtle nesting in San Francisco 38 2.4 The turtling industry and black market in the Limón province 39 North Beach sea turtle/poaching activity 42 Green turtle black market: poaching, 2.4.1 Turtle poaching in San Francisco 43 prices and distribution 2.5 Sea turtle conservation in San Francisco 43 4 4 Leatherback rookery sizes (world and No r t h b e a c h) Chapter 3: Autopoiesis and Community development 47 3.1 Introduction: a systems perspective on community in San Francisco 47 3.2 Self-creation: The theory of Autopoiesis 48 3.3 The analogy with community and social capital 49 3.4 The creation of community – Autopoietic development in San Francisco 55 58 Building and destroying social capital Synthesis and recommendations 62 Possible steps in the development of San Francisco 63 List of references 68 Appendices 74 - 6 - The future of San Francisco...¡Si señor! - 7 - station in the Tortuguero area in Costa Rica. Currently, Introduction Global Vision International (GVI), a UK-based volun- teer organisation using the fi eld station as its basis, has taken over most of the project’s tasks and responsibili- he day on which I started writing the fi rst words ties. I worked on this project in the summer of 2006 and Tfor this introduction, the Toronto Star reported, was asked to write a feasibility study3 (appendix 1) inves- in one single issue, that: the crew meals for the Oscars tigating whether and how project activities should be were served on biodegradable dishes, that Arnold continued in the future. Sea turtles nesting on the Playa Schwarzenegger “fl exed his muscles on emissions”, and norte (North beach), as the beach is called, had never that Prime Minister Stephen Harper stressed the impor- been systematically studied and neither nesting numbers tance of “community involvement” in Afghanistan1. (and whether they were high enough to warrant beach While none of these topics are very relevant to the protection) nor the impact of poaching from the nearby subject of this paper, they all bear witness, in a sadly village of San Francisco were known.
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