draft 2 reflection

When I was bidding for this module before the start of the semester, I did not know what to expect and I did not look forward to taking ES1102. Furthermore, friends of mine who took this module mentioned that I would have to prepare to write countless essays for this course. After hearing that, I was a little taken aback as my confidence in essay writing was really low. I was afraid that my poor grammatical skills will put me in a very terrible situation and I will not be able to deal with the rigor of the course. 

After thirteen weeks, I am really glad that this course brought so much enjoyment and knowledge on academic writing to me. Throughout this whole module, I had to start writing many reflections and essay on an array of topics. Even though it was extra work as I am not awarded any modular credits, but I really did not find them a chore. I am glad that Brad introduced blogs as the platform for us to post our works as I find that the level of interactivity makes brings writing to a whole new level. Everyone had a blogging group and we were encouraged to go to our classmates blogs and leave our comments on their blog posts. I really enjoyed doing that, I feel that it allowed me to learn more about my weaknesses as well as strengths. In addition, we were asked to constantly review our work and also edit them through writing a few more drafts. The emphasis placed on reviewing my writing really started to benefit me. Although I know that I still cannot grasp all the rules for grammar and will still have the tendency to make a lot of grammatical errors, but by adopting the habit of writing multiple drafts and rewriting parts that are not fluent, I have faith that I will improve. 

All the activities in the course were very useful to me, I feel that they are lessons which will always be applicable to every part of my university journey. I am also very happy that I had the opportunity to present my final essay about ecotourism and also hear my classmate's presentations on their essay topics. It was very interesting and enlightening as I had the chance to listen to so many other topics which I did not focus on. 

This short period of three months really changed my view about academic writing and I am thankful because I managed to take away so many things from the course. This course was very effective and was very comprehensive. There were so many areas that I was exposed to, such as problem-solution essay, text editing, reader response and critical reflection writing. Prior to ES1102, I did not realized the importance of some of the skills that were covered. Furthermore, the skills and lessons made me more effective in writing. As I learn how to better organize my ideas, being more careful about grammar and adhering to a good essay structure I was able to produce better essays that could reflect exactly the points that I am trying to make about the topic that I am writing about. 

I hope I will retain things that I have learnt and continue applying them to other modules in my future university life. One area which I am still struggling with and hoping to improve on would be writing under time constrain. Being really weak with grammar usage and having problems with spelling really pulls down my confidence during examinations. Therefore, I understand that I still have a long way to go and have a lot of room for improvement but I firmly believe that ES1102 really serves as a good starting point for my writing journey

 Although this course have come to an end, I honestly feel a little sad and start to miss having lessons every monday and thursday with my friendly and helpful classmates and a very dynamic and encouraging teacher. However, I will not deny that I am happy that there are less work for me to do. This is a bitter-sweet feeling that I am experiencing right now! 

In my opinion I feel that presentations should be introduced to ES1102. Having about two weeks of preparation and executing it, I really feel that I learnt a lot. I feel that presentation is an integral part of university and almost every course requires student to present their work or research. I believe that students should be as effective in conducting a presentation as they are in writing a report or assignment.  Furthermore, with this added component, I was able to get a clearer idea of the essay that I have written. It was a good way for me to go through the essence of my essay and share my findings in front of my classmates. If presentations are included in this course, I believe that it will be very helpful for students. They will get a better idea of how to give a more effective and powerful presentation. In addition, I feel that this component is very precious as I received immediate feedback about my presentation. This gave me a better idea of my performance and things that I need to work on. It is also very compatible with the essay component, as I get to learn more about the topics which my classmates wrote about. It was also a good opportunity for me to build my confidence and fine-tune my presentation skills. It was a valuable experience which I hold close to my heart and I believe that it should be incorporated into the course.

Essay draft 2: Ecotourism in Costa Rica

Ecotourism in Costa Rica

In his Ted talk, Goldin mentions “the collapse biodiversity” is one of the negative consequences brought about by rapid globalization. Globalization led to the evolution of ecotourism in many developing countries, and ecotourism industry has been expanding at a rapid rate in recent decades (Dasenbrock 2002). The countries view ecotourism as a viable method to “protect the natural environment” while generating “social and economic benefits” (Buchsbaum, 2004). The lucrative profits generated by ecotourism, not environmental protection, have become the primary motivation of ecotourism. Using Costa Rica as a case study, this essay seeks to discuss how ecotourism affects the environment and aims to evaluate the solutions taken to tackle this problem.

The rapid ecotourism expansion in Costa Rica, which begun since the 1970’s has been very evident. By 1995 there were over 125 government-protected sites including national parks, wildlife reserves, and forest reserves (Vorhees and Firestone, 2006). In that very year, the number of recorded visitors exceeded 50,000 and generated over $750 million for the economy. Abundant sites of nature situated on the country such as scenic beaches, caves, volcanoes, mountains, mangroves and tropical rainforests as well as hundreds of species of plants and animals are reasons for the thrive of ecotourism. Although Conservation efforts are witnessed, in the quest for higher levels of profits, “ecotourism becomes ecologically damaging” (McKeone, 2011).

Overcapacity of visitors, greenwashing and poor management of solid waste and sewage are some of the negative impacts generated from ecotourism and they lead to dire problems such as environment degradation, pollution and endangerment of wildlife.

Costa Rica ecotourism industry faces a serious problem of visitor overcapacity. Costa Rica Tourism Board (ICT) reported 31,637 tourists in the first month of the year for 2011. During peak periods, one of Costa Rica's most popular parks, Manuel Antonio, takes in an average of 1,000 visitors a day (Weaver, 1998, 95). When the management chooses to ignore the limits of the carrying capacity, the negative impacts of ecotourism starts to become apparent (Edgell, 2006). Measures are taken to tackle this problem. One of such is by raising admission fees “by a factor of 10 in 1994 (from $1.5 to $15 for foreign visitors)” (Gosseling, 1999).

However, this is not a viable solution. Over the years, substantial increased in profits and the further boost of ecotourism makes it hard for authorities to turn paying-tourists away. Such unregulated access and flow of tourists to even the most fragile parts of the forest have caused overdevelopment and great damage to the entire ecology. Furthermore, interactions between tourists and animals are also of concern. Animals such as white-faced capuchins have become more aggressive as they frequently prey on tourists for food (Baker, 2008).

Green-washing arises when profit motivated companies labels themselves as “ecotourist” so to provide services that do not technically classify as ecotourism (Egan, 2001). This is severe as it goes against Costa Rica’s environmental reputation. Under this façade, companies will continue activities that will contribute to environmental degradation.

One solution to green-washing would be the certification system run by the Costa Rican government known as The Certificate for Sustainable Tourism (CST) (Arnall, 2013). This system rates accommodation and tour operators in Costa Rica according to their level of sustainable practices, which in turn will affect their businesses as the tourists will now favor businesses with a higher rating.

Despite businesses indicating increased efforts towards sustainability through the certification system, I feel that the government should find more alternatives to this problem. Statistics show that only a small percentage of the market seeks to be certified (Bendell and Font, 2004). Large enterprises that can afford to undertake the whole costly process of certification have the upper hand, while smaller ones are rarely awarded with the higher levels of certification (Arnall, 2013). This will deter smaller businesses to seek improvements in sustainable practices.

The boost of ecotourism and the exponentially increasing number of tourists caused Costa Rica’s already poor management of waste to worsen. High influx of tourists precipitated the production of more waste putting a toll on the country’s landfills that are already nearing the maximum capacity (Baker, 2009). Even though this waste problem is more serious in the city if it is not timely addressed it will affect the beautiful nature surroundings and cause serious environmental degradation.

The government tries to revamp their environmental policies implementation of environmental campaigns about recycling and enforcing stricter traffic acts and higher amounts of fines to penalize those who go against the law.

These solutions do not really address to the root of the problem. Habits and mindsets of people are difficult to change. The citizens treat the issue lightly and view recycling efforts as “an ecological trend” and not “a necessity” (Baker, 2009). Furthermore, Tourists who visit the country who may not have a strong environmental awareness might just follow the bad littering habits of the residents.

In conclusion, “Ecotourism is an opportunity to preserve ecosystems and biological diversity that would otherwise be lost” Wall, n.d.). It should not be used to exploit the environment for economic benefits. Government or authorities should find solutions to these issues to ensure sustainability of ecotourism in the long run and must be willing to forsake economic profits for the conservation of the environment.

References:

1) Baker, Christopher P. (2008). “Manuel Antonio National Park.”

Retrieved from http://centralamerica.com/cr/parks/momanuelantoni.htm

2) Costa Rica Tourism Institute (2011). “Costa Rica: No Artificial Ingredients.”

Retrieved from http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/novedades.asp

3) Edgell, David L. (2006). Managing Sustainable Tourism: A Legacy for the Future. The Haworth Press, Inc., NY.

4) Hill, Jennifer and Tim Gale. (2009). Ecotourism and Environmental Sustainability: Principles and Practice. Ashgate Publishing Limited: Burlington, VT. INBioparque Costa Rica. 2011. “Welcome to INBioparque Costa Rica.”

Retrieved from http://www.inbio.ac.cr/en/inbio/inb_queinbio.htm

5) Egan, Timothy. (May 20, 2001). "Uneasy Being Green: Tourism Runs Wild." The New York Times.

6) Weaver, D.B. (1998). Ecotourism in the Less Developed World. Cab International: London, 1998.

7) Garland M Baker (2009). “Trash and littering have become major problems”

Retrieved from http://www.crexpertise.info/trash-and-become-major-problems/

8) Emily McKeone (2011). “Ecotourism in Costa Rica: Environmental Impacts and Management”

Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1051&context=envstudtheses#page=21&zoom=auto,0,710

9) Su Arnall (2013). “

 Regulation of the Sustainable Tourism Industry in Costa Rica: “Greenwashing” or Good Governance?”

Retrieved from http://bisa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_bisa&task=download_paper&no_html=1&passed_paper_id=285.

Draft 1 of problem solution essay: ecotourism in Costa Rica

In Glodin’s Ted talk, “the collapse biodiversity” is one of the negative consequences brought about by rapid globalization. I think that the collapse of biodiversity is a very devastating problem of mankind. If it is not properly addressed, the effects would be irreversible and would soon affect generations to come. Globalization led to the evolution of ecotourism in many developing countries, and ecotourism has become one of the fastest-growing industries. The countries view ecotourism as a viable method to “protect the natural environment” while generating “social and economic benefits” for the country. (Buchsbaum, 2004) According to The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) the definition of ecotourism is as such, “Ecotourism is: "Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people." Even though developing countries such as Costa Rica tries its best to strike a balance between both development and conservation goals, it is hard to deny that in recent years, lucrative profits generated by ecotourism may caused environmental protection to be secondary. As such, problems caused by globalization such as loss of diversity and environmental degradation may be worsened by expansion and focus on ecotourism as Costa Rica’s key development industry.

Ecotourism in Costa Rica, which begun since the 1970’s has been really successful mainly due the country’s strategic location and many favorable factors. Abundant sites of nature situation on the country such as beaches, caves, volcanoes, mountains, mangroves and tropical rainforests as well as hundreds of species of plants and animals are reasons for the thrive of ecotourism. Although Conservation efforts can be witnessed, the quest of higher levels of profits have allowed their ecotourism industry to become ecologically damaging.

Costa Rica is known for being one of the top nations for conservation of wildlife and nature, propagated by the growth of ecotourism. Ecotourism drives the expansion of many conservation initiatives, such as the creation of Costa Rica's National Park Service in 1970. (Weaver, 1998, 87). Economic revenue generated from this industry was also diverted back to environment conservation. Tourists not only immerse themselves in numerous adventures and activities during their visitation of national parks and biological reserves, they will also return educated and inspired about conservation due to informed tour guides and educational pamphlets. (1998, 24) Ecotourism also prevented nature to be a victim of “farming, logging or mining industries”. (Egan, 2001) However, the attainment of high levels of profits and poor regulations led to loss of biodiversity and environment degradation. Problems include visitor overcapacity, green washing and over-reliance on international donors. During peak periods, one of Costa Rica's most popular parks, Manuel Antonio, takes in an average of 1,000 visitors a day. (Weaver, 1998, 95) Furthermore, profits involved makes it hard for authorities and park-keepers to turn paying-tourists who came to see rare species of animals and plants away. Such unregulated access and flow of tourists to even the most fragile parts of the forest has placed great damage on the entire ecology. The problem of greenwashing arises when profit-motivated companies engaging in the marketing scheme of attaching a "green" label to travel services that do not technically classify as ecotourism. (Egan, 2001) This is severe as it goes against Costa Rica’s environmental reputation, and under this façade, companies will continue activities that contributes to environmental degradation. Lastly, being reliant on international donors who do not have a well understanding of Costa Rica’s ecosystem or are profit-driven for funds may be adverse for the environment. As their motivations maybe in conflict with the governments’ causing a destabilizing of the government’s “conservation efforts and lead to a lack of coordination in carrying out environmental policy”. (Weaver, 1998, 96-97) In the short-term, authorizes and the government may be attracted by the profits and may not take notice of adverse effects of the problems above. However, in the long run it will be devastating. Without proper regulation and steps taken to reduce the problems above, environment and biodiversity exploited for economic revenue will face irreversible damage, despite the conservation efforts.


The first solution to the problems would be for the government and authorities to impose stricter regulations and rules. With proper enforcement of regulations, the negative effects on biodiversity and the environment will be greatly eliminated. Stricter regulations will also prevent unlawful and false marketing practices of ecotourism and the relevant products. Rules and regulations should also be imposed on tourists in the form of proper signage and proper crowd control measures, together with better education they will be more aware of their surroundings and the importance of conservation of wildlife. Fines or punishments should be imposed on those who do not adhere.

Secondly, government should also “Integrat(e) tourism into planning” and also increase communication with stakeholders and the public. (Blamey, 2001) Through a “strategic planning framework” and adopting “environmental impact assessments” In this light, the viability of tourism in the long run can be ensured. Furthermore, communication with international invertors and stakeholders can “resolve potential conflicts of interest”.

Lastly, the solution to sustainable ecotourism should be government being willing to “place environmental conservation ahead of economic profit”. Even though it may affect revenue generated in the short-run, but “degradation of the natural environment” will cause reduction in visitors as the once beautiful and delicate destination has been destroyed and “the natural environment on which ecotourism depends will be less attractive” (Wearing, 2001).

I feel that the last solution is the most viable and it is the only option that will preserve wildlife and environment in Costa Rica. As mentioned by Wall, “Ecotourism is an opportunity to preserve ecosystems and biological diversity that would otherwise be lost.” And it should not be use to exploit the environment for economic benefits.

References:
1)http://www1.american.edu/ted/costa-rica-tourism.htm

2)http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05052004-171907/unrestricted/EcotourismCostRica.pdf

3)http://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1244&context=ijgls&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com%2Fscholar_url%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.repository.law.indiana.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%253Farticle%253D1244%2526context%253Dijgls%26sa%3DX%26scisig%3DAAGBfm2hL_lFDYMgR8TPTm2O3FzqlVqWmg%26oi%3Dscholarr#search=%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.repository.law.indiana.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1244%26context%3Dijgls%22

Essay Outline: Ecotourism in Costa Rica, Central America

Essay Outline: Ecotourism in Costa Rica, Central America

Research question: To what extend does the expansion and focus on ecotourism in Costa Rica contribute to environmental degradation?

Stand: Although there are many environmental benefits driven from the expansion of ecotourism in Costa Rica, the fact that the industry is key to the country’s economic development has invariably led to high levels of environment degradation. The government should provide adequate education to tourists, impose stricter regulations, provide more funding towards the preservation of flora and fauna, thereby reducing the impact of environmental degradation.

Introduction:

-        -In Glodin’s Ted talk “the collapse in biodiversity” was mentioned as problems caused by globalization. I feel that these are the two main problems relevant to Costa Rica’s ecotourism.

-       - How globalization has led to the rise of ecotourism?

-        Definition of ecotourism

-        -Ecotourism as key economic development for the country, generating huge amounts of revenue.

-        -How ecotourism is regarded as a way to preserve the environment but in the recent years has also led to the depletion.

Body 1: 
-Situation of ecotourism in Costa Rica, the criticisms and debate on ecotourism in recent years.

-         -Description of ecotourism in Costa Rica, and its landscape and attractions of the country.

-        -Includes my stand. (from above)

-       - How ecotourism plays a role in the conservation and protection of the environment, flora and fauna in Costa Rica.

Body 2: 
-Provide a case study of ecotourism in Costa Rica

-        -How the environment is exploited for economic revenue, and leads its loss of diversity and irreversible damage.

-        -Reasons for the loss of diversity due to ecotourism in Costa Rica.

Body 3: Solution 1 
-enforce strict regulation and rules
-hire suitable and skilled personnel

Body 4: solution 2 
-integerate planning frameworks
-better communication with stake holders

Body 5: conclusion
-take a stand

reader response draft 2

In Kraidy's article, "Globalization of culture through media (2002)", he explored the global media debate between 'cultural imperialism' and 'globalization'. Kraidy disagreed that audiences especially from developing countries are passive importers and receivers of values, information and products from Western culture. He evaluated and analyzed cultural imperialism and explained how it evolved with the influence of media into 'globalization' and 'hybridization'. Instead of a homogenizing process, he considered cultural globalization as hybridization where different cultures globally transform and adapt to satisfy their local needs while retaining aspects of their traditional culture.

Kraidy mentions that one party of the debate regarding the ‘relationship between media and the globalization of culture’ perceives that “mass media trigger[ed] and create[ed] the globalization of culture”.

I personally feel that the claim is too generalized and fails to take into consideration the other driving factors of cultural globalization that precedes the advent of mass media. Therefore, I believe that the phenomenon of globalization of culture is already prevalent in the past, long before the introduction of mass media.

The advancement of technology and progression into the digital age has invariably increased the speed of culture globalization. Ashdown stated that “Because of the internet”, “Everything is connected to everything [in our modern world]” making nations and people ‘interdependent’ and ‘interlocked’ (Ashdown, 2011). This progression is evident in our everyday life, such as television channels and online news portals supplying news from all over the world to our intimate spaces. Social media platforms increased interconnectivity of people and allowed them to adapt and gain knowledge of different cultures. Mass media truly transforms our cultural experiences in unprecedented ways.

Media is an indisputable force of the globalization of culture, but I would not label it as the sole trigger. The era of the steamboat began in 1787 and bullet train transportation was invented in the early 1960s, such transportation advancements led to increased in the movement of people and migration. These are integral factors of cultural globalization as  “new technologies of transport allow frequent and multi-directional flows of people, ideas and cultural symbols” (Castles, 2006).  Looking beyond the influences of mass media, I consider advances in transportation, migration as early engines of cultural globalization that assisted the assimilation of different culture by various groups of people and generation of cultural activities. Therefore, I do not agree that mass media should be solely culpable for cultural globalization even though it has indeed quickened and escalated the whole process.

(400 words)

References:

Stephen Castles (23 FEB 2006). Migration and Community Formation under Conditions of 

Globalization.

Paddy Ashdown (Jan 2012). The global power shift. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/paddy_ashdown_the_global_power_shift.html

source=facebook#.Uvj0BmChr9I.facebook

Kraidy, M. M. (2002). Globalization of Culture Through the Media. Retrieved from

http://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1333&context=asc_papers