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Costa Rica
Costa Rica ranks among the top 20 countries world-wide for biodiversity, despite the fact that its land area represents less than one third of one percent of the planet’s surface. There are more than 1,400 species of orchids in Costa Rica, and new ones continue to be discovered every year! This staggering biodiversity stems from Costa Rica’s function as a land bridge between two continents and its combination of varied ecosystems and geographic features. These include rain and cloud forests, savanna, mountains, volcanoes, two separate ocean coastlines, beaches, and mangrove swamps.

No country in Latin America has been more successful than Costa Rica in creating long-standing economic and political stability. Costa Rica has aggressively protected its natural resources and, in the process, become a global model for the rewards of sustainable tourism. A quarter of Costa Rica’s land has been officially protected, and off the coast ten times that area has been set aside as marine reserves.

Global Issues Background
Despite its economic and political progress, Costa Rica’s biodiversity remains under threat from the same economic pressures that have deforested much of Central America. Banana and pineapple plantations are encroaching upon the last of Costa Rica’s unprotected lowland forests. Farmers continue to cut down mountain forests to plant subsistence crops that expose fragile soils to erosion. Poachers and land squatters operate with impunity throughout Costa Rica’s under-funded nature reserves. Foreign investors have sparked a real estate boom, dislocating farmers and resulting in widespread development alongside many of Costa Rica’s protected areas. The real estate boom has sharply increased land prices, making it prohibitively expensive to create new nature preserves.

The Costa Rican government has made sustainable tourism the cornerstone of its long-term economic strategy. In order to support sustainable tourism, Costa Rica has focused on preserving its environment and improving the quality of education for Costa Rican youth. By improving education, Costa Rica hopes to both spread environmental awareness and create a new generation of tourism professionals. The government has endorsed the teaching of English in its schools and is making a push to bring computers, and computer teachers, to schools around the country. Much remains to be done to improve the quality of education in Costa Rica’s rural schools, which are badly underfunded and often lack basic infrastructure such as working bathrooms, libraries and playgrounds. Computer labs are still a very long-term goal for most schools.

Requirements
Students should have a satisfactory level of physical fitness in order to participate in manual labor and other physical activities, such as hiking and swimming.

Students and parents are required to complete all required World Leadership School forms, including the Application, Acknowledgment and Assumption of Risks, Indemnity Agreement, and the Medical Form. As part of the application, students must respond to a detailed questionnaire expressing their reasons for wanting to go on the trip.

Students should remain flexible to changing circumstances, delays and other hurdles that are common in Costa Rica. The specifics of volunteer work will be decided according to the needs of the community or organization shortly.

Risk Management & Safety
We strive to responsibly manage risks. Our itineraries minimize highway travel and maximize immersion in rural communities that we know well. We update our risk management protocols, integrate feedback into program design, and invest in safety and communication equipment. Despite these efforts, World Leadership School cannot guarantee safety nor can it eliminate the inherent and other risks of international student travel. For information regarding program activities and associated risks, risk management, and student and parent responsibilities, please contact us (303) 679-3412.