Plants are making DND look bad!

This is way off base from my quirky coverage of local environmental issues but who cares? I can't stop thinking about the latest with DND's (Department of National Defiance) new policy to rid HQ of all plants (I'm not talking electronic devices). Seems they're tightening their belts and figured that saving a few bucks watering plants would justify turning their work place into an oxygen free, sterile environment. A little like a desert perhaps? Maybe this is like a joke out of a "Control and Chaos" TV episode where Sigfried says: "What's with all the plants and what has this to do with the enemy? This is DND, we do not water and talk to plants!
 Maybe to match this sterile environment, they can let in a few prickly cacti plants that are low maintenance and seem to represent the current government. If that doesn't go over, maybe they could just camouflage the pesky plants. After all, those ficuses, hibiscus and other lovely plants were making DND look bad.

Green innovators unite!

Today I was reminded that the green economy is alive and well. While installing a brand new pellet stove in a remote spot near Calabogie with my employer and buddy, I learned a lot about this man's work to live off grid. While we were there, the owner was orchestrating another team from Ottawa Solar Power while they were installing the electronic guts of an off-grid solar system. He's saving over $25 K in pole costs alone. Very cool. As the famous author Amory Lovins said many years ago, "heating your home with electricity is like cutting through butter with a chainsaw". He has a wood and pellet stove installed to heat his entire well insulated home. I watched transfixed as the 50 KG lead battery packs (16 in total) were carried in and hooked up to the German made circuit breaker box that looked like something on a Space Shuttle. I'm impressed when people go against the grain and go out on a limb to show their commitment to the environment and the economy.
My point is there are a growing number of individuals with the means and drive to stake out their vision for the future. My good friend Bradley Robinson is anoter example of those quiet and determined innovators. Over the past year, Brad has built his own state of the art home by himself that has a built in biogas digester, geothermal and styro-crete structure that has to be seen and explained to be believed. I plan to get together with Brad for some tea in the near future to put together a small feature on his brilliant work with photos of his habitat creation.Green innovators unite!

Please break the connection

More of humanity is taking on a pack mentality

This is of course enabled by the wondrous internet

When a stupid and strange video story goes viral

And routinely abused grandmas get tons of money

People don’t realize how unsuited we are for this

As we sit chained to our computers 10 hours a day

We’re popping vitamin D to replace the eclipsed sun

We’re eating hungry man dinners to stave off hunger

We’re texting while in the shower and walking in traffic

We’re constantly talking on the cell or skype in all places

We lovingly cling to our new found techno pet machines

In today’s world it’s the one thing we cannot do without

Nobody wants to feel alone as they cross the desert

I’ll either laugh or feel sad I missed out on all the fun

My brief time on Facebook sure wasn’t much fun

I got dragged into a global game of gossip and posing

 

How many kids are replacing their sexuality with porn?

Isn't this the ultimate human bond of love and procreation?

Mother Nature’s way of telling us something’s wrong

Those who make it across the desert will be strong

When they finally get to the other side they will know

They will let their children run around in bare feet

They will enable their tribal family to avoid mistakes

They will show some of us how to start over again

And learn to live as humans always have and should

 

Another hit to our Spring?

Looks like Wakefield is about to lose another greenspace to the well oiled wheels of development. The pristine lot just above the Spring and below McGarry's Crematorium is being cadastered by Fortin. I was told the other day that Ron Hill is planning to build there, What??? Oh yeah, I'm sure it will look nice. I remember years ago when I talked with Mr. McGarry about the building of the crematorium (remember those quiet days?), he told me he would spare that little patch of beauty which over the years I am grateful for (first I had to get off his back!). I will be sad to see it go and I wonder if this may be the straw that breaks our beloved spring. Seems everything comes with a limited time warranty.

Like a tree falling in the forest

 

This kind of thing happens all the time, like a tree falling in the forest at night. But this time they went too far. Walking back there the other day I was horrified to see one of the smaller ponds (with a very peaceful forest canopy) had simply vanished, gone, disappeared. In it's place was countless truckloads of fill and gravel that had been neatly bulldozed into an ugly flat square. Almost like a child playing a game, the developer can now say what pond?
I have a video that I shot a few weeks ago while the machines were going full steam. It shows this serene permanent pond being at the exact same spot as this sudden parking lot arrival. I wanted to post it here but for some technical reason beyond my comprehension, was not able. The whole thing is starting up again and I'm getting tired of my one man crusade. The local media is Johnny come lately, what do I have for them to print, or a polite "I'll look into it" from my old friend and local councilor out here. All I know is the sweet sound of frogs that I hear at night from the wetlands has been dimmed, been culled for the sake of progress. Like my night sky has been sacrificed for Lavigne's multiple neon white lights, spewing their night pollution into our country sky. No doubt Mr. Lavigne and his wife are angry that development in their backyard has spoiled their little paradise, but he started the spoiling in the first place!
Is this poetic justice or stupidity? I call it war on nature and this little pond is the first casualty of this senseless conflict.  So far absolutely no one is taking any notice, like a tree falling in the forest...

Losing the back of my hand

OK, I'm exaggerating, nothing is being paved over, yet. It's been over a month since I last reported on this new development front, moving in on Wakefield, following the "telegraph road". I still don't know what's going on, so I went over a few times to check things out. I know the trails and wetlands back there like the back of my hand, so I stealthily snuck in for a closer look. The digger was filling up trucks from a hole it was digging but suddenly the mechanical beast swung around to knock over a few pesky spruce trees that were close to the edge of the pit, and me. Luckily, the falling tree just missed me and I took this as my cue to leave. Since then I have had a brunch meeting with our councilor, Louis Rompre and Phil and Glennis Cohen. Maybe more a party with good friends than a meeting but we did manage to talk a little about the development on the Dery land across the river among other pressing issues like the need to have an official PPU. Louis seems to share my concern about the wetlands and the need for special protection against encroachment but mentioned that a 15 metre buffer would be respected. I said that according to my understanding of environmental assessment, the buffer zone between any development (digging or cutting of trees) and significant water bodies is 30 metres. This seems reasonable that people can trim or cut trees around their homes but not to the extent that they clear all vegetation (like the Senator did) along the river or water body to afford a better view. I hope to get further clarification from our Council on the development plan itself, but also the up front rules on cutting trees close to water bodies.

I also want to discuss the issue of docks that may spring up along this wild stretch of the river but I realize this is a contentious issue (I don't want to start a dock wars, but they have sprouted up everywhere and have an obvious cumulative environmental impact. I have heard that there is a requirement for anyone who wants to put in a dock to provide details to Council, but how well is this followed or enforced is another question.

And finally, a piece of juicy gossip involving the ex-Senator, Raymond Lavigne I heard from a close neighbor. Seeing all the dump trucks parked near Lavigne's house, I was becoming concerned that he was somehow in on the whole development scheme. Turns out, when the trucks first started arriving for work, Lavigne closed his puny little gate on his very public road, and Mr. Dery had some stern words for Lavigne, something, like open that *#!^ gate, I own all this land around you including this road! Rumours have it that up to 15 homes will be built back there, could be nice I guess if done right. One thing for sure, I'll miss the back of my hand...

Paradise threatened?

While I was away in Costa Rica a couple of retired Wakefield land barons that own land around Senator tobacco's ill-gotten mansion, were planning the next big development. The article in the Low Down to Hull & Back had ominous overtones for me, "Dery brothers eye more than 500 acres in Wakefield".  Laurent and his brother Dominique have co-owned the vast river front property at the end of Wakefield Heights Road since the 1970s. The two brothers are in the process of a land transaction that would consolidate one brother's holdings in Wakefield, and the other plans another large development project in Farm Point.  Dery said they had purchased the land for the old age and that "The demand for and lots in Wakefield was not that hot until a few years ago, speculating that the highway 5 construction completion in early 2014 had increased the area's popularity.
The Low Down surmises in a manner that smacks of "poetic justice" go on to say "A development might mean that former Senator Raymond Lavigne (who owns a house in the proposed development location), could lose his privacy. According to Laurent Dery, his brother Dominique was not yet ready to talk about his plans for his Wakefield property, as the land transaction is still in the works.

Not only will Lavigne lose his privacy but so will I and many other Wakefield residents who routinely walk or boat over to the pond inlets that dot this unique landscape. Even my old friend and Wakefield councilor Louis Rompre likes to visit his favorite pond by the old Cohen farm. I always suspected that more development would continue after the ex Senator's outrageous acts to circumvent the legal process.  I imagine Louis won't be able to do anything to stop this planned development but I'm concerned that this project may be initiated without due public diligence that is required in Farm Point. How will the ponds and wetland critters communicate if no one is listening? I know these wetlands like the back of my hand and I have made ecological maps to situate the changing wetlands in this area of proposed development (there are 6 permanent ponds in the area). This unique wetlands ecosystem is a jewel of Wakefield.

I and others, will be waiting for an opportunity for our input to ensure these wetlands are fully protected. Louis said to me once that he would like to see the ponds and buffer zones around them, protected from future development. Maybe this is why the Dery brothers chose to unveil this project now, right in the middle of unprecedented change in Wakefield that our Councilor and everyone can barely deal with.  I have a clear view from my backyard. If this terrible project proceeds, I will be watching closely and intervening if necessary, when even a single tree branch is cut within the 30 metre buffer zone that by law must be kept around all water bodies. If this project happens, Wakefield will lose another piece of their soul.

Socio-Economic Perspectives of Costa Rica

 

 

Costa Rica may be small, but it has an interesting history. Prior to 1950, the economic model chosen for Costa Rica was for agro-export growth with a social policy cushion, between 1950 and 1978 it was a mixed economy, and then from 1978 onwards, through trade liberalization, the public sector expanded quickly and then the party was over.

The 1980’s were not kind to the Central American region and Costa Rica was no exception.  The threat and fear of communism (the red menace of the Sandinismo) coincided with an economic downturn that led to a growing arms and drugs trafficking. Much of this activity was to finance illegal arms supplies to the anti-communist Contra guerrillas fighting in Nicaragua. One of the restaurants we had to see in Manuel Antonio was El Avion. It was the “back up”  cargo plane that was used in the infamous Iran-Contra affair with Ollie North. These were heady days in Costa Rica, in 1978-79 the people and government of Costa Rica had provided non military support to the Sandinista revolutionaries fighting to overthrow (US backed) Nicaragua’s Samoza dictatorship.. 

In 1981 Costa Rica made the world news when the government declared a moratorium on the country’s foreign debt and broke off negotiations with the IMF. The “Thatcher-Reagan” style of neoliberal Economics and the privatization of state enterprises was coming up against a wall in Costa Rica (and the whole region).

By 1983 Costa Rica lost their big US player, United Fruit Company and the need to diversify the economy was obvious. Desperately wanting to avoid the civil war conflict engulfing the region, they declared their neutrality (2^nd time) and were “rewarded” with massive US aid to join the fight against communism.  Costa Ricans saw this as an opportunity for the US to showcase how capitalism and democracy could coexist in Central America. The USAID was dispatched to Costa Rica with a big bag of goodies worth about $1.3 billion that helped to soften the conditions imposed by the IMF, but also to win influence with private organizations beyond the reach of the legislative. 

In 1987 the President, Oscar Arias (86-90) was able to outmaneuver a UA administration obsessed with militarily defeating the Sandanista government, and was awarded the Peace prize for his efforts to broker the peace plans that was signed by the 5 key leaders of Central America.  Perhaps this man is better known in his country as the person who initiated an ambitious housing program to reduce the clout of the community activists, he also slashed state assistance to agricultural producers which overall, led to the virtual disappearance of the peasantry, but he racked up a huge government deficit. Due to a controversial decision of the Constitutional Court in 2003,

The PUSC government (1990-94) took advantage of the rising government deficit (exacerbated by the rise of tax exempt businesses), to justify an even stronger neoliberal program.  The central feature was the standard “shock therapy” model of increasing sales tax, salary freezes, and reductions in social spending. The effect of this shifting of the economic burden to the poor, which by the early 1990s resulted in the reappearance of diseases that had been formerly eradicated and increasing poverty among vulnerable households.  

This was a bad time for an economic downturn. By 1990, the US had lost interest in Central America and it’s aid drop dramatically. This was compensated for by an increase in direct foreign investment , reaching a peak of about half a billion dollars a year by 2004 (mostly tax-exempt businesses) . These were now heady days for hotel, restaurant and tourism operators.  But now that the economy has cooled in North America and Europe (where the tourists are), there is a glut of hotels and restaurants, tour operators and enough customers… Costa Ricans understand the ebb and flow of the tourism industry like surfers understand the need to wait for the big waves to come in.

The rapid growth in foreign tourism began in 1985 and by 2004, almost 1.5 million tourists generated $1.3 billion in revenue and 7 percent of GDP.  This coincided with a diversification of the economy (maquiladoras) including a profitable Intel plant built in the capital in 1996. Costa Ricans do not suffer unduly from brain drain (the 45,000 living abroad remit about $500 million per year), there are about 400 thousand Nicaraguans working legally and illegally in Costa Rica, as in the prosperous US, a blind eye is cast to this needed employment but work conditions and pay is often marginal.

 

Socio-Cultural Perspective:

An interesting and troubling social condition I witnessed here, but not widely reported, is the issue of legal prostitution in Costa Rica but pimping is illegal. I learned a bit about this the issue of child prostitution and how Costa Rica is seen as a sexual tourist destination for some men. I did not see or experience anything to support that this is a problem, but the woman (Maria) who we rent our villa from was helping to run a Catholic church style shelter for such young woman they were helping to get away from this prostitution trap. Especially compounded is that without pimps, it is often the parents that will traffic out their own young daughters body for food on the table. The influence of organized crime is visible in the creation of networks of female and male prostitution (minors and adults) that for the most part, services the tourist industry.  

I would admit that the young woman of Costa Rica are among the most beautiful and intelligent I have ever seen in the world, they have a wonderful sense of modesty and self pride that comes off gracefully and innocent. There is a deeply engrained sense of decency that runs through all society, these are no doubt passionate people, but at least in public, they extoll a virtue in conduct and appearance.

Speaking of intelligent, in 2005 Costa Rica had roughly 166,000 university students, making up about 4 percent of the total population.  The inevitable drift towards privatization has affected the arts and culture industry, there are more private primary schools and universities, and more private health clinics and hospitals (public ones are obviously underfunded), and the national police and security guards.

The rapid penetration of the American way of life was brought in by:

• The introduction of cable TV in 1981 and internet access shortly after
• The founding of private schools that emphasize the speaking of English
• The boom in Miami style advertising agencies
• The opening of video arcades and video rental shops

 Cultural globalization and the market economy has to some extent, been fueled by the tourist boom and trade liberalization itself. It has also been assisted by the surprising expansion of evangelical Protestantism , where devotees have tripled in number from 50 thousand to over 150,000, and many Costa Ricans attend evangelical services at least occasionally. The success of the evangelicals reveals that the Catholic Church has been left behind by the social and cultural changes (they dropped from 90 to 76 percent between 1985 and 2002).  The Church’s loss was also related to the greater secularization of society and changing demographics.  Smaller families (family size fell from 7 to 2 children in past 50 years) were increasingly headed by a woman and divorce rates began to grow to American equivalence.

 

There was growing feminine participation in the labor force, from one-fifth to one third between 1973 and 2005. New employment opened up for women in business, politics (the proportion of women deputies in the Legislature rose from 12 to 39 percent between 1986 and 2006) and the arts, the current President is a woman (this is a trend sweeping the whole region). However, it has been said that the feminist movement has taken a pragmatic approach by avoiding involvement in the systematic defense of working women’s rights.

Status seems to be increasingly associated with the consumption of brand-name products and access to private services. Perhaps where this is seen the most is in residential segregation, with a model that separates popular sectors from the middle classes and the business and political elites.

While in San Jose I walked around one of the very few public parks and I was shocked to hear the city wanted to cut down most of the old growth flowering trees to further encroach on this public space. I heard there were protests and that this could be a flash point in future. Although youth gangs did flourish during the 1990s and to some extent still do in the larger cities, they did not reach the size or degree of organization of the fearsome “maras” of Guatemala, El Salvador or Honduras.  While in Costa Rica I saw a few people trying to sell, or just smoking pot, but I never saw any other crime of any sort, or violence (even shouting) for that matter.

The proportion of homes beneath the poverty line has somewhat stabilized at around 20 percent, but there is plenty of inequality. In 2000, a census indicated that 77 percent of Costa Ricans own their homes, and over 80 percent had potable water, electricity, TV, fridge and washing machine. 

It will be up to Costa Rican civil society to decide whether neoliberalism is entrenched or whether strategic social infrastructure shall remain under tight state control.  Perhaps Costa Rica’s success is based on its fierce ancestral resistance to being dominated and it’s capacity to adapt processes of global change to its own local situation. This has been based on making gradual adjustments that have allowed the majority of the people to adapt to new economic and institutional realities. This has focused on a strong family unit and sense of social justice and community coherence, and love of peace and nature.

Perhaps these are the foundations for happiness and sustainability that can work in the world today?

 

OK, what's the story on this country, the size of Nova Scotia and their sky high, gross national happiness quotient? The socio-economic stats paint a rosy middle class picture, but prices are high for certain things. Mostly things that the nearby region does not have or produce. 100 mile diet is alive and well here by necessity. So when you're close to the coast, the fish (mainly ceviche and tuna) is cheap. When you're further inland, dairy products become cheaper. Re-fried beans and rice are of course ubiquitos and cheap everywhere, though I never saw beans or rice growing. We had to really watch our Colones (1,000 = $2) when we went shopping for food. It's only slightly less expensive than Canada. Makes me wonder how they do it? The minimum wage is purported to be only $1.89/hr and that usually isn't followed. A lot of people are involved in the tourism industry and some get paid very well. This creates some animosities with other Ticos who toil under the hot sun all day for a fraction in pay. Still, there is little sign of social discontent and agitation. I did not see any crime or accidents while I was there. We had a 24/7 guard on duty in Quepos which I sensed was more for peace of mind for visitors than any real threat. Quepos has a big industry growing palm trees for the oil. This has been recently rejected by MacDonalds for it's high saturated fat content, and this mono crop industy may go the way of the banana.


It takes a while to see where and what the Ticos buy, but if you pay attention, they know where to shop for lower prices, usually where tourists don't like to go. Overall, I was amazed at how honest and helpful people here are. I never had any problems. I was a little surprised by how little trading goes on between the small countires of Central America. The local economy takes American currency without a problem, but the always undergo forgery tests, and will often ask for a copy of your passport to ensure safety in such transactions. I used the local ATMs on a number of occasions and never had any problems. When I tried to enter a bank I was frisked down like I was going into a court building. I did not see much evidence of an informal or barter economy, but I'm told it's alive and well. The market economy and compeition is alive and well, just take a look at the taxi drivers hungry for a fare. However, it's still in a follow the leader mode of operation, and real choice and realistic prices are not always evident. This is troublesome because there is evidence of infrastructure and building projects that have been stalled or cancelled. Costa Rica is very dependent on the US and world economy and the downturn creates a gamble with the tourism industry. Although I was in the country during the peak season of mid January to early March, I got the impression that tourism was down. I must admit being frustrated at paying $1 for a second cup of coffee when they have more coffee they know what to do with! Prices tend to be fixed and not always very transparent.

Make no mistake, Costa Ricans like their technology just like us, maybe more when it comes to cell phones since it's quite cheap for them. If they can't afford a car, they get a motorcycle, no need for a helmet. If they can't afford a motorcycle, they rig up a small engine to a bicycle, or just stick to the bike. Walking works well for many people since everything they need tends to be close by. Mind you, the Maxi Pali, or modern big-box grocery store we shopped at, was 5 or 6 kms away from the downtown core of Quepos, so more and more people have access to a car. Generally speaking the cars tend to be in good condition, much better than Guatemala.

Finally on the economic issue of eco-tourism, I did see city workers cleaning streets and sidewalks, and in some places, the waste buckets are even hand painted, but overall the amount of garbage seen was a bit surprising but not near as much as I saw in Guatemala. As expected, community attempts to clean up waterways, ditches and where garbage goes to die a slow death, does not seem to happen here as this is considered a luxury. Along the way, I bumped into wonderful souls who quietly took it upon themselves to pick up garbage and give nature a helping hand.

Costa Rica Scookum!

"United" has flown me to and back safely from Costa Rica and there's  more winter lying around than before I left in mid January. This plays with my internal time clock mechanism but I'll just have to live with that until time catches up. My childlike wonder did run away from me while visiting this l Nova Scotia sized country. It was everything I could have hoped it to be and so much more, it gave me reason to hope and believe - to have faith again. Maybe to take the expression pura vida to heart and our own west coast word for *ucking awesome - scookum! Whatever it was, it was amazing for me and my two sisters and brother. We all stayed at the comfortble Villas Tranquillas for most of a month outside a small sized town called Quepos. Of course we were there to escape this beautiful long-winded winter this year in Wakefield and the rest of Canada, but I stayed on and extra 2 weeks to wander around and explore and investigate what is going on with this eco-tourism experiment in Costa Rica. To prove to myself, perhaps as a mid-life crisis, that I could still do the backpacking thing and live on $25 a day!

My adventure began with a long walk down a rocky beach coastline in Dominical and Montezuma and didn't stop until I hit the mountains of the Monteverde cloud forest. I must have walked over 1,000 kms easy. As the good scientist I try to be, I've recorded and collected all sorts of digital and hand written information and memories that defy such manipulation which I'm thankful for! It is my hopes that I can tell a worthy story about how eco-tourism is doing in Costa Rica and where it is going. As an early leader with boat-loads of experience dealing with eco-tourism and protecting nature, Costa Rica is an important model for the dos and don't that other countries, including Canada, may share or learn from on this elsive path for "sustainable development". I'll have lots more to say and maybe share here as I mull over the evidence as I wait for winter to end. 

Pura Vida!

As much as I'm enjoying this fresh fluffy snow, I'm off to Costa Rica for the winter. Since my early days at CIDA, involved in the setting up of the Montverde cloud forest park, I've always been fascinated by the eco-tourism governance experiment that this nation embarked upon. It's no longer an experiment, after 50 years this military-free nation has proven that sustainability can be win-win. At least I hope so, but as usual, I will stray off the beaten track and see for myself. Along the way I will be taking many photos with my Nikon D200 and recording the sounds of the jungle and surf, away from people as much as possible. Yes, I will miss the snow until I hit Coco beach!