A few years ago, I was able to study abroad in Costa Rica at a remotely located privately-owned field station. En route to the field station, you could view the landscape change---from city, to some houses, to great areas of tropical forestation, to empty spaces; paved roads turned to gravely or dirt roads; from beautifully tree-dominated landscape to palm trees and pineapples??? …bananas too?!?
It turns out that a large number of acres near the field station
had been turned into pineapple and banana crops. The crops, used for
exportation purposes, were owned by Dole. Allegedly, Dole used aggressive
tactics to buy land that was once part of the rainforest landscape at a very
cheap price then razed it to establish a pineapple and banana farm.
Even though the banana and pineapple crops are seemingly in a
right place – remote, somewhat faraway location – their presence went against
what Costa Rica is known for: conservation efforts that include maintaining
specialized habitats “intact.” (Could it be that since the land became privately
owned by Dole, they can do what they want with it and don’t need to adhere to
the unwritten mission of the country?) Also, the crops are located in an area
that lies in-between areas that have conservation programs instituted – e.g. a nationally
known cloud forest and the privately-owned field station. Thus, the banana and
pineapple crops could be deemed “out of place.”
At the same time, because of human demand for
pineapples and bananas, and given that the rainforest landscape no longer
exists in the area that is being used for the banana and pineapple crops, it
could be said that the crops are “in place” since the land is being adequately
used as it exists at the present time to fulfill a consumptive need.
No comments:
Post a Comment