Econ Log - PES and Poverty

Do PES programs help reduce poverty?

PES programs were not originally designed to reduce poverty, but it is argued in both directions. Some say that it is not an effective way to reduce poverty because the people who will reap the benefits from the program are the landowners, who tend not to be poor. Others say that it will cause problems because landless peoples could be relying on the land for subsistence, weather it is farming or timber sales.

What are the obstacles to participate in this?

Some of the obstacles that block people from participating in this program are limitations of geography. Because many of the programs revolve around water, people must be in a target watershed or even in a target part of a watershed in order to be eligable. There are an entire slew of other obstacles, including profitability, access to credit and access to technical assistance.

What are some socio-economic impacts of PES programs?
Though there could be additional income for participants of the program, there are also some posible negative impacts. Because land might be stopped from being converted into agriculture land, food that could otherwise have been grown, would not be and thus food prices could rise.

NRM Log - Coffee Farm

The process through which a coffee farm has to go through in order to become organic is something I knew very little about. After visiting the coffee farm, I see what a difficult path this is to take, and perhaps why more coffee farms aren’t certified organic already.
The farm we visited uses as little water as possible to process their coffee, which makes the work harder but in the end it does not have to discharge huge amounts of polluted water. They also mix the peeled bean shells in with their fertilizer so they don’t go to waste.
Without using any chemical pesticides or fertilizers, the coffee farm is losing 45% of their production. This could be seen as a huge loss, however they are getting 20% back in higher prices, since the organic coffee can be sold for more. Even with the higher prices, the farm is still losing money. The most important thing I learned from the farm was that they do not see this as an actual loss. Because the long-term benefits are so great, they do not think that the initial monetary loss is too great for organic farming to be feasible. The health and wellbeing of their workers and of the environment is seen as a huge benefit, which makes up for the monetary loss. This frame of mind is of utmost importance in transitioning to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Culture - Costa Rican Family Structure

After staying with a Costa Rican family, I observed some similarities and differences between Costa Rican family structure and my own experience in the US. Every family is different and generalizing my family experience to an entire culture probably would not be entirely accurate.
Some observations were that my family seemed to pride themselves in keeping everything sparkling clean all the time. This resulted in my host mom constantly cleaning. She was not a stay-at-home mom, however. There was not a father figure in my host family, and my host mom was an English teacher.
The main difference was that the kids lived at home, even though they had graduated from college. At home in the US, this is seen as an unfortunate circumstance. If you really have no other options, you might still live with your parents, but here it is completely normal to live at home. In fact, it is actually abnormal to live somewhere else.
The kids were expected to help with the chores like cooking and cleaning, but they needed constant prompting from my host mom, which, I must admit, is very similar to how my family in the US functions.
For the most part, things felt very similar to how they are at home in the US. There was a level of familiarty between the family members, but not so much that it bordered on disrespect. Because the kids in my host family were older (18, 20 and 22) they were very independent, and this was supported by their mom. This is very similar, at least in my family back in the US.

Tropical Ecology - Why Cloud Forests Are Important for Human Use

There are several ways in which cloud forests can be utilized for human purposes. Though their intrinsic value is certainly important, that alone would not be enough to protect them from being over-utilized. The environmental services provided by Cloud forests are an important reason for protecting the.

One of these services is the water cycle. Without the cloud forests, water cycles would be thrown completely off balance, ruining watersheds and eventually causing desertification. Water is clearly a human necessity. Not only is it important for drinking water but also for irrigation of crops.

A second environmental service provided by cloud forests is the possibilities they hold for bio prospecting. Because cloud forests are a very rich place for biodiversity, there are many opportunities for medicinal properties to be discovered in the flora and fauna. 80% of common medicines on the market today are derived from plants. In order to continue research on new cures, bio prospecting, and cloud forests are important.

NRM Log - 5 ways to live more sustainably

Food- The food we eat has a huge impact on the environment. Choosing not to eat meat, or even to limit the amount of meat that we eat is something that hugely reduces our carbon footprint. If being a vegetarian is not feasible for some people, eating locally is another important step towards sustainability. By minimizing the distance our food has to travel, we are cutting out a lot of carbon and also helping our local economies by supporting local farmers. Generally, the food from local farmers is healthier and grown/produced in a more sustainable way as well.

Transportation- Walking is the most efficient form of transportation but since this does not always work, it is important to minimize the amount that we drive. If we have to drive, we should make sure to carpool and combine trips so we don’t have to constantly be going back and forth. Of course, more fuel-efficient cars are better, but simply keeping our cars tuned up will help reduce our emissions. Using public transportation is another great option. There are also many new ridesharing programs (at least in the US) like Zipcar and Goloco.

Recycling/Composting- Everyone knows that recycling is a key part of sustainability. Reducing the amount of waste we create is even better and, of course, trying to re-use as much as possible, instead of buying new things will help to reduce our carbon footprints. Organic food waste can be composted and instead of thrown away, which will also help reduce the amount of space taken up in landfills.

Energy- There are many ways to reduce our energy use in order to live in a more sustainable way. Remembering to turn off and unplug electronics when they are not in use is important. Because many electronics have a “phantom load” even when they are not turned on, it is important to unplug them in order to avoid that wasted energy.

Activism- Even if we remember to recycle, eat locally, drive less and turn off our electronics, that will not be enough to create a sustainable future because not everyone will do these things. It is important to be politically and socially active in educating others and demanding our politicians to create strong legislation to curb carbon emissions and support renewable energy sources.

NRM/Econ- Positive and Negative Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts of Free Trade

A negative environmental effect of free trade in Costa Rica is the regulatory effects it will have on such things as policy. Free trade has the possibility of paralyzing environmental regulations because these regulations are seen as restrictions on free trade and thus are given a negative connotation. One example of this is the issue with intellectual property rights.
Conversely, technology effects could be very positive for Costa Rica. There could be new environmentally friendly technologies that would help with a huge range of problems including waste and waste water management, renewable energies, sustainable agriculture and many more. Costa Rica could benefit greatly from new information technology as well.
Though social issues and environmental issues are inextricably linked, there are some impacts of free trade in Costa Rica that lean more towards social issues. One of these is the income effect. With bigger companies coming in, people with small businesses can’t compete. This leads to unemployment. This is also an environmental issue because those people will have little choice but to begin farming land that could otherwise have remained forested.
Though it could go either way, free trade might create a product effect that would increase the amount of green products in the country. As the Kuznet curve shows, wealthier populations show more interested in caring for their environment. Consumer demand for green products is an example of this phenomenon.

NRM- Strengths and Weaknesses of Bottom Up Natural Resource Management.

The main weakness of bottom up natural resource management is the lack of governmental support and resources. With smaller, bottom up management, the funding and resources that could possibly have been allocated to natural resource management initiatives are harder to come by. The support that governments can give is useful because it gives the group legitimacy and makes it harder to stop initiatives. If the Tarcoles river initiative had more governmental support, perhaps it would not have been shut down. Without governmental leadership, bottom up resource management can also become decentralized to the point of disorganization.
A strength in bottom up natural resource management is that it gives power to the people who will really be affected by the issues. Instead of waiting around for a government official to make a decision on something that has no pertinence to his/her life, bottom up makes use of the people who feel the consequences of resource exploitation. It also is much more efficient in that it directly works with the ones responsible for resource use instead of being removed from the problem, like top down management is.