Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
BOX 6.1
Coopesilencio, Costa Rica: An Example of Community Participation
The land surrounding the Savegre River in the central Pacific area of Costa Rica is
subject to periodic Caribbean hurricanes and Pacific cyclones as well as flooding of
the river and its tributaries—natural phenomena that cause a high degree of uncer-
tainty for the region's socioecosystem. After a flood in the 1950s destroyed the
United Fruit Company plantations and convinced the corporation to pull out of the
area, a group of workers and small farmers led a struggle to acquire the abandoned
property. Their efforts culminated in 1973 when forty-two farming families perma-
nently occupied the estate previously known as El Silencio, and established the
Coopesilencio farming cooperative (Sobrado 1998; CEPAL 1999; Marín Hernán-
dez 1999; Gertler 2001; Cordero Ulate 2006). The cooperative's main activity has
been the cultivation of African palms for the production of oil, a crop that currently
occupies 1,310 acres (530 ha) of the 2,471 acres (1,000 ha) owned by the coopera-
tive. This area also includes 741 acres (300 ha) of forestland and other acreage that
is used as pasture to feed the cooperative's eighty cows, to grow agrobiological fruit
and vegetable crops, and for other farming usages, most of which are for the cooper-
ative's own consumption. The cooperative, which was originally set up with the sup-
port of the Costa Rican Institute of Agrarian Development (IDA), currently has
forty-two members, whose families, along with another forty families that are not
members of the cooperative, make up the four hundred people who live in the com-
munity. Work is shared among the members in accordance with the needs, prefer-
ences, and qualifications of the individuals.
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch destroyed a large part of the palm plantations. This di-
saster interrupted the supply of drinking water and electricity and destroyed the
bridge across the Guabo River, which led to major communication difficulties and
posed a serious problem in terms of product exports. However, it also led to the
development of a community agroecotourism project that, with time, has become
an important factor in stemming the exodus of cooperative members and has even
revitalized the cooperative, creating job opportunities for a growing number of
women and some of the younger members who find tourism more appealing than
working in the fields. Even though this group represents a small percentage of the
younger population, without their interest the youth exodus would be practically to-
tal. In 2005, Hurricane Rita destroyed a significant part of the palm plantations, de-
pleting production of Coopesilencio's main economic resource and also destroying
what represents for any Costa Rican community the center of its social life—the
main square/football pitch. Instead of giving up, the community once again rallied
and worked together to drive its tourism project forward, renegotiating debts that
were impossible to repay, and working collectively to recover their square/football
pitch, which they missed as a symbol of their identity.
The catastrophe not only had a strong impact on agricultural production, but ad-
ditionally the damage caused to the small eco- and agro-tourism infrastructure all
but convinced the cooperative to give up on this activity and transfer management
of their resources to an external operator. However, community leaders decided not
