Development of ecotourism and curriculum development in Miraflor, Nicaragua: Outreach and collaboration with faculty of FAREM, Estelì

Background/Question/Methods Nicaragua, the second-poorest nation in Latin America, protects <3% of its land holdings in IUCN Category I or II protected areas (e.g., nature reserves and national parks), yet harbors high biodiversity that includes nearly 900 resident vertebrate species.  As in most developing nations, this biodiversity is threatened by human subsistence activities including deforestation for small-scale farming, grazing, and harvest of fuel wood.  Thoughtful ecotourism might help conserve Nicaragua’s forests and biodiversity, but ecotourism is underdeveloped and poorly promoted, comprising only 5% of Nicaragua’s GDP (compare to Costa Rica’s 1995 ecotourism revenues of $661 million USD!), and largely benefits a few, wealthy, non-Nicaraguan entrepreneurs who own lodges, private forest reserves, or adventure travel enterprises.  To better understand and promote ecotourism in Nicaragua, faculty collaborators at Universidad Nacional Autoìnoma de Nicaragua, Esteli (FAREM), and I surveyed the literature (English and Spanish-language) on ecotourism in Nicaragua and elsewhere in Central America, explored existing resources that promote and accommodate ecotourism in the UCA Mirafloìr agricultural cooperative, and initiated the development of (a) promotional resources (e.g., web materials) for ecotourism in UCA Mirafloìr and (b) ecotourism curriculum component for FAREM’s existing academic program in tourism.  
Results/Conclusions To date, we have located only a scant dozen English-language publications addressing ecotourism in Nicaragua, primarily theses, white papers and case studies, and even fewer Spanish-language items; this contrasts sharply with three decades of extensive scholarly work on ecotourism in neighboring Costa Rica.  The relative lack of protected areas and English proficiency in Nicaragua (especially compared to Costa Rica) further impedes efforts to foster ecotourism.  Nevertheless, community leaders in UCA Mirafloìr have produced a rudimentary web site, pamphlets, on-site signage and other resources to assist travelers, and we are working to produce more.  Although the existing FAREM program in tourism does not address ecotourism, the university’s existing strengths include programs in English language, ecology, and environmental science, and its excellent ties to the Mirafloìr and other mountain communities in the region.  Collaboration with international faculty is new to the faculty of FAREM, yet these small projects have led to other, more substantive work, including just-launched curriculum development in ecology and environmental science emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches and student research.