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1 Your web browser (Safari 7) is out of date. For more security, comfort and the best experience on this site: Update your browser Ignore ANIMAL FARM Costa Rican cattle ranch turns to ecotourism For the complete article with media resources, visit: By Stuart Thornton Tuesday, September 24, 2013 Before becoming a lodge and ecotourism destination, Costa Rica s 330-hectare (815-acre) Hacienda Baru was a working cattle ranch. In 1976, however, property manager Jack Ewing started to think differently about the operation. A cowboy had just killed an ocelot, a wild cat native to Central and South America. I thought, what a shame to kill such a beautiful animal, Ewing says. And that incident provoked a lot of thought. A few months later, I prohibited hunting on Hacienda Baru. That is what got me started on the environmental path. Ewing initially viewed the land as ideal for raising cattle. By the time he began working with the ranch in 1972 (he moved there in 1976), half of Hacienda Baru s acreage was cleared for pastures and rice fields. As I lived here, my vision of it changed, Ewing says. I started seeing it more and more as a natural environment. I fell in love with the rain forest, is what happened. In addition to the rain forest, Hacienda Baru is home to wetlands, lowlands, and three kilometers of beaches on Costa Rica s southern Pacific coast. Ewing became a part owner of Hacienda Baru in 1978, and in 1990, the ranch 1 of 6

2 sold all its cattle. In 1995, Costa Rica declared Hacienda Baru a national wildlife refuge. There is a lot of land here, Ewing says. It takes a lot of expense just to maintain it. It doesn t seem like maintaining a rain forest is a lot of work, but it is! There are a lot of things that have to be done, and it is expensive. So in order to maintain it, we needed some source of income. The obvious source of income was ecological tourism. Hacienda Baru offers cabins and lodge rooms, as well as 11 different tours of the grounds. Two of the more popular tours are bird-watching hikes and a zip line through the rain forest canopy. The land at Hacienda Baru has been transformed back to its natural state except for a 6-hectare (15-acre) forest, parcels of land around the hotel, and a scientific research center. We want to maintain as much of Hacienda Baru as we can as natural forest and as natural habitat, Ewing says. We want to educate people about what we are doing here. Customized School Tours Part of Hacienda Baru s education mission is giving local elementary school students free, customized tours. We generally design a special tour for them according to what their professors want, Ewing says. We want the students to go away from Hacienda Baru with a little different attitude toward nature than when they came. Some students get to participate in a turtle recovery project. Sea turtles lay eggs on the beach at Hacienda Baru, but poachers frequently take the eggs to sell in local bars. The employees of Hacienda Baru try to gather as many of the 2 of 6

3 eggs as they can and then care for them in a protected nursery. When the eggs are ready to hatch, Hacienda Baru offers local schools the opportunity to have students release the baby turtles on the beach. It s a very emotional experience for a child, and they ll never eat turtle eggs after they do this, Ewing says. Wildlife Corridor Since Hacienda Baru quit operating as a ranch, other animals have returned to the region. Local bird species include rufous-necked wrens, roseate spoonbills, and scarlet macaws. Those aren t the reserve s most popular birds, however. Your average tourist really wants to see a toucan, and we have two different species of toucan here, Ewing says. They [visitors] also really like to see the king vulture, Ewing says. I think that gets people really excited. The king vulture is white. Most vultures are black. Spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, and larger animals roam the area. We now have five species of cats, but the most spectacular is the puma, Ewing says. Ewing hopes to add one more species of cat to that list the jaguar. Jaguars only live in very well-functioning ecosystems, ecosystems that are so healthy and functioning so well that it will produce food for a major predator like that, Ewing says. Hacienda Baru is also part of the Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor. (Despite 3 of 6

4 the corridor s name, tapirs themselves have not been spotted in Hacienda Baru.) A wildlife corridor connects animal populations. When a new highway was constructed through Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge in 2010, Ewing and his team negotiated for the highway department to construct 21 tunnels under the two-lane road and monkey bridges above it. The bridges and tunnels allow animals to bypass the dangerous highway. Ecotourism benefits more than local wildlife populations. Ewing says the lodge and grounds employ about 40 people. We are very sincere about what we are doing, and our main objective is not necessarily just making lots and lots of money, he says. We want to do it correctly, and we want to benefit Hacienda Baru but at least make a decent living and provide a decent living for local communities. Vocabulary Term canopy Part of Speech cattle ranch 4 of 6 Definition one of the top layers of a forest, formed by the thick leaves of very tall trees. large farm where cattle are raised and bred for meat or leather. cowboy person who herds cattle on a ranch, usually on a horse. customize ecosystem verb ecotourism to change or modify an object to a unique set of preferences. community and interactions of living and nonliving things in an area. employ verb to hire or use. environment act and industry of traveling for pleasure with concern for minimal environmental impact. conditions that surround and influence an organism or community.

5 Term Part of Speech Definition expensive adjective very costly. forest ecosystem filled with trees and underbrush. frequent adjective often. habitat environment where an organism lives throughout the year or for shorter periods of time. highway large public road. incident event or happening. income wages, salary, or amount of money earned. negotiate verb to discuss with others of different viewpoints in order to reach an agreement, contract, or treaty. nursery place where young animals are cared for. ocelot spotted American wildcat. pasture type of agricultural land used for grazing livestock. poacher person who hunts or fishes illegally. predator animal that hunts other animals for food. prohibit verb to disallow or prevent. rain forest area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall. ranch large farm on which livestock are raised. sincere adjective genuine or real. spectacular adjective dramatic and impressive. tapir large, endangered animal (mammal) similar to a pig, native to Asia and Central and South America. toucan large-billed bird native to South America. tourism the industry (including food, hotels, and entertainment) of traveling for pleasure. wetland area of land covered by shallow water or saturated by water. wildlife area connecting the habitat of two wildlife populations corridor separated by human activity. Also called a green corridor. 5 of 6

6 Part of Term Definition Speech wildlife area set aside for the protection of wild animals, where refuge hunting and fishing are limited. device (a pulley suspended on a cable) that allows users to adjective, descend from the top to the bottom of an incline by zip line means of gravity. Also called zip wire, aerial runway, death slide, flying fox, or canopy tour. Articles & Profiles National Geographic News: Rural Mexicans Learning to Make Ecotourism Pay Websites Hacienda Baru The International Ecotourism Society: Costa Rica National Geographic Society. All rights reserved. 6 of 6