Costa Rica can be viewed by tourists today as the intersection between Western and Latin American culture. But historically, it was the meeting point of Andean South Americans, Aztecs from the north and the seafaring Caribs from the east. But all of these people fell under the rule of Spain when Costa Rica joined this mighty empire in 1524. Isolated from the regional capital in Guatemala and lacking gold and silver, few resources were poured into this land and the well-to-do settlers found themselves having to tend their own crops without the enslavement or oppression of the local population. This created an unusual kind of rural democracy, a premonition of the egalitarian society that Costa Rica would become centuries later.

Costa Rica finally gained its independence in the 1820s, but thanks to its remoteness, it only learned this a month later. However, once it was discovered that coffee grew exceptionally well in this climate and volcanic soil, the country gained a new value. Landowners were given free saplings as an incentive to maximise production; coffee soon comprised 90 percent of all the country’s exports. But although there was money to be made, Costa Rica’s progressive government maintained its democratic stance by imposing high taxes on plantation owners and exporters, which in turn was reinvested in free education for all.

The same care was not invested in the environment, however, as forests were cleared to make way for coffee and bananas, but as coffee prices plummeted in the 1970s, people began to view the forest in a different way. Rather than making money from exporting things from the land – could we not make money by importing people to it? What was once seen as a barrier to wealth generation was now seen as the very source of that wealth. Costa Rica became a leader in the world’s environmental movement almost by accident, as income from tourism surpassed that of coffee and bananas, and the country moved to conserve swathes of cloud forest and rainforest, coast and ocean. Tourism here for the most part is considered “ecotourism” – yet there are concerns that in future it may become a victim of its own success. Though profits remain largely in-country, resulting in poverty levels dropping from 50 to 20 percent, there are concerns about the rights of local communities who still depend on the land for their survival. Additionally, sustainable tourism by its very definition has a limit to how big it can grow; with over a million visitors per year sensitivity is needed. Costa Rica’s past has turned it into a model for responsible tourism; its future could reveal what happens once that ideal has been achieved.