Land Displacement of Costa Rican Indigenous Groups

Presenter

Nicolle Gudiel Winter

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Mark Roblee, Commonwealth Honors College, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A10, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 1 (A1-A20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

My Honors Thesis aims to analyze the structural and communal changes land displacement has exerted on Costa Rican indigenous groups in the last 30 years. Further emphasis will be placed on the multifaceted shifts created by land displacement that have resulted from ecotourism and ‘eco-friendly’ practices, taking a critical analysis of the degree that such an industry is harmful to local indigenous groups. In recent decades, a spike in Costa Rican ecotourism has expanded and grown the country’s economy to the extent that it is now the greatest source of foreign capital. Ecotourism has placed Costa Rica in international travel guides and has been become a hub for yoga retreats, surf camps, service-learning trips, among others. However, it has displaced indigenous groups that once occupied those properties and spaces, damaging their relationship with nature. My interdisciplinary approach will take a historical lens to understand the complex results that land displacement, tied with ecotourism, has had on the locality and indigenous groups through a comparative analysis. Case studies, longitudinal studies, and photographical archives would be the pillars of the implemented methodology. Having said so, multinational hospitality companies, tourist corporations, and foreign business owners are the primary contributors to the land displacement of Costa Rican indigenous people, further exacerbated by governmental incentives through the incorporation of policies. Such will be an educational and informative project to advocate for indigenous voices in Costa Rica in part to reclaim their lands, autonomy, and authority and restore their relationship with nature.

Keywords

Ecotourism, Indigenous Groups, Relationship with Nature, Sacred Earth, Industralization

Research Area

Climate Science

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