Dependent environmentalism: a case study of Oreros and the Corcovado National Park in Costa Rica

I use the phrase "dependent environmentalism" to describe the process in which a conjuncture of three interests-local environmental elites, international environmental elites, and the state-structures and shapes environmental conservation in lessdeveloped countries. In the case study presented, the imposition of a U.S. national park model and a U.S. environmental ethic of "wilderness thinking" in the establishment and management of Costa Rica's Corcovado National Park had deleterious effects on the local gold-mining-based economy and peasant oreros (gold miners). This paper examines the environmental, economic, and social context of the park's establishment and demonstrates a need for more inclusive strategies of natural resource protection that show more concern for affected populations of rural poor.