When I first began the process of writing this paper on ecotourism, I was under the impression that it would be an outlier (of sorts) in relation to the other research topics that my colleagues were exploring. However, upon seeing the culmination of their work at the end of the semester, I now realize that our papers share several common themes. These similarities go far beyond mutual utilization of the "transition theory" as the basic framework for each paper. Most notably, there is the "sustainability connection." While discussed in a variety of contexts, it seems that virtually every paper makes reference to sustainability, whether explicitly or not. This paper is no exception. To be sure, sustainability – in the economic and environmental sense of the term -- is a central issue for this work. Indeed, it is a primary indicator and measure around which this paper is developed.

In addition to the general connections, this paper also links up quite well with the others in more specific ways. Just as Lewis Garvin and Jennifer Talbot analyze the success of alternative models for economic development in their papers, so too does this paper attempt to discover what about ecotourism can be of benefit to both the environment and the economy in Costa Rica. Moreover, like Garvin and Talbot’s works, this paper seeks to shed light on community participation and empowerment as a legitimate, if not necessary, means of achieving sustainable social, economic, and political change. As can be seen in all three papers, without community participation, none of the programs and policies discussed could be successful.

Moreover, without community participation, practices such as ecotourism would quite possibly become the soul domain of external entities like international tour operators and multinational resort corporations. As such, it stands to exert the same negative influence and have the same potential implications for Costa Rica that the maquiladora enterprises along the US/Mexican border exert on that country. It is a situation where resources are utilized and the environment is damaged, all in the name of encouraging economic activity. At the end of the day, however, much of the revenues do not go back into the local economy, but rather, are remitted elsewhere internationally. Nathalie Henry’s work describing this situation in Mexico provides a stark picture of what can happen within and to a country that allows itself to depend too much on foreign involvement and "assistance" when it comes to its economic development efforts.

In addition to the connections stated above, other relationships exist. Whenever a new approach is introduced into a fixed worldview, there is bound to be controversy and debate. Such is the case with ecotourism in Costa Rica. While there are many supporters of this alternative or "green" form of tourism, there are many others who question the fundamental principles underlying the practice. This phenomenon seems rather common; as demonstrated by the experiences of other countries where new programs and approaches are being implemented. As Moira Zellner and Marnie Boardman point out in their papers on Argentina and Arizona respectively, recent programmatic and policy measures around water management are often the subject of criticism and debate. While there are clearly legitimate social and biophysical pressures that justify the need for water management programs, not everyone seems to agree on how that management should take place. Evidently, then, there are also economic and political dimensions to water conservation that cannot be ignored. Like ecotourism, water conservation is not an apolitical issue that transcends debate and controversy.

While there are several instances of overlap between this paper and some of the others, there are also instances of contrast and juxtaposition. For example, unlike Welter’s Uganda, Costa Rica can hardly be described as a country "stuck in transition." Rather, it is a dynamic nation, constantly seeking new and innovative ways to raise the country’s economic stature and profile while improving the standard of living for the individual. Ecotourism can be viewed as one piece of this multi-faceted effort. In that regard, Costa Rica is much like Indonesia in that both are attempting to diversify their economies, and thereby, move beyond the reliance on single crops as the primary source of revenue and exchange. Whether ecotourism (in the case of Costa Rica) and coffee (in Indonesia’s case) will prove to be the key to success is still uncertain. It will be interesting to see if the principles of public/private cooperation, national commitment, and community participation can be coordinated, can actually come together to make ecotourism a viable structure for environmental sustainability and economic development in Costa Rica.