Links

Here's the link to Marion Harris's website about this trip: http://www.geocities.com/ifspcostarica/

I figure that if I had to do this webography in the first place, someone else might as well get something out it!! So, here's a list of links about the topics we studied while in Costa Rica. For each topic, they're ranked with 1 being best and 5 being worst.

Topic 1: Sea Turtle Marine Research

Critical Evaluations:

1. Caribbean Conservation Corporation/Sea Turtle Survivor League, "Caribbean Conservation Corporation," http://www.cccturtle.org/contents.htm, 21 June 2000.
   This site gives a lot of valuable information on sea turtles in general, then zooms in and takes a look at individual types of sea turtles. It also discusses the ramifications that human actions have had on sea turtles, and the possibility of extinction. It gives links to a sea turtle tracking program which attaches satellite transmitters to the shells of sea turtles and monitors their movement. One of these programs took place in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, and most of the transmitters are still working. The information given is very recent, and the site was last updated just this month. There are maps that chart the movement of a handful of green and hawksbill turtles from their nesting spots in Costa Rica up to the coast of Nicaragua. This site is extremely informative and a worthwhile spot for anyone interested in sea turtles to visit.

2. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission / Florida Marine Research Institute, "Sea Turtles," http://www.floridamarine.org/features/category_main.asp?id=1289, 22 June 2001.
   This site offers a wealth of information on turtle conservation in Florida, and gives data on the nesting of green, leatherback, and loggerhead turtles in Florida. It shows pictures of all of Florida's sea turtles and gives information on research projects that the turtle program is conducting. The information given appears to be recent, because the site was updated in May or June of 2001. The information doesn't give references, but the site was constructed by scientists. The content is fact, but conservation is obviously supported.

3. Holtcamp, Wendee, "Love and Death on Turtle Beach: Costa Rica's Leatherback Babies Fight for Life," http://www.discovery.com/exp/turtles/turtles.html, 22 June 2001.
   This site documents Wendee Holtcamp's trip to Guanacaste where she views leatherback turtle hatchings in Las Baulas National Park. This site is a detailed account of Holtcamp's experience and offers video of a leatherback laying eggs, and a turtle quiz. It tells about the research being done in Las Baulas to try to stop the number of leatherbacks from declining as they have been. The information is from late January and early February of this year.

4. Marine Turtle Research Group, "Marine Turtle Research Group," http://www.seaturtle.org/mtrg/, 22 June 2001.
   This site was created by scientists and student volunteers and is currently based at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales. They fund research projects around the Mediterranean with green and loggerhead turtles. The projects mostly aim to study the nesting grounds of these turtles to learn more about them. They also try to help conservation efforts by assessing various threats on the turtles' nesting grounds such as pollution and interaction with fisheries. The site seems to have been updated in 2001, but it is difficult to tell. This source agrees with many of the other sea turtle sites I've visited.

5. Padre Island National Seashore (National Park Service), "Turtles in the Gulf of Mexico," http://www.nps.gov/pais/turtles.htm, 22 June 2001.
   This website provides basic facts about five sea turtle types: leatherback, hawksbill, green, loggerhead and Kemp's ridley. It also outlines conservation efforts for the Kemp's ridley, the most endangered of the group. For all of the sea turtles, reasons are given for their endangered status, mostly including predation by humans for their meat or shells. It isn't clear when the site was last updated, but http://www.nps.gov/pais/ was just updated this month. The information seems to come from the staff at the National Park Service, and doesn't give any opinion except that it supports saving sea turtles, particularly the Kemp's ridley.

Topic 2: Political, Environmental, and Economic Impact of "Eco-Tourism"

Critical Evaluations:

1. Costa Rican National Chamber of Tourism, "Ecotourism: A Natural History," http://www.tourism.co.cr/ecotourism.html, 2 June 2001.
   This website gives practical advice about being practicing eco-tourism in Costa Rica, including what to do and what not to do in the country. It also gives suggestions on what to see, telling the average tourist how to be sensitive towards the environment and be an ecotourist. The site appears to have last been updated in 1999. It was produced by the Costa Rican government, so the information is accurate.

2. Mader, Ron, "Latin America's Ecotourism: What is it?" http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/tour/latam.html, 22 June 2001.
   This is a helpful guide to understanding ecotourism. Mader tries to explain what exactly ecotourism is, because anyone can use the prefix eco- to attract tourists, hence the creation of eco-estacionamientos, or eco-parking lots, in Mexico. It was written in March 2001, but includes references on a separate page (http://www.planeta.com/ecotravel/etour.html). Mader seems to be qualified; he hosts planeta.com and has written a book about traveling in Mexico. Even so, most of the information is his opinion, and not based in fact.

3. Yacumama Rainforest Lodge Institute, "The Truth About Eco-Tourism," http://www.yacumama.com/html/the_truth.html, 22 June 2001.
   This site is a great guide for a tourist who is planning a vacation and wants it to be environmentally sound. The Institute gives advice about what to ask a lodge or ship owner about power generation, waste disposal, preservation, education, and the social impact on the local villagers. The guide is particularly helpful for someone going into a rainforest area. By asking questions, tourists can make sure that they have an environmentally friendly vacation and ensure that their grandchildren will be able do the same. The site is commercial, and advertises a vacation in the Amazon.

4. Barkin, David, "Ecotourism: A Tool for Sustainable Development," http://www.planeta.com/planeta/96/0596monarch.html, 22 June 2001.
   This site presents a paper on ecotourism and David Barkin's belief that it can be used to attain "sustainable development," a complex term that tries to save the environment and the economy simultaneously. The paper is from 1996, and Barkin's sources are very well documented. He includes his opinions, but bases them in fact.

5. Big Volcano Tourism Marketing & Media, "Big Volcano Ecotourism Resource Centre," http://www.bigvolcano.com.au/ercentre/ercpage.htm, 2 June 2001.
   This website is a guide to the practice of ecotourism, with many links to tourism and travel sites. It also offers links to sites with accommodations, tourist activities, and travel guides as well as ecotourism associations and research on ecotourism. It was last updated in February 2001, and while it offers facts, it is a commercial site.

Topic 3: Cultural Ramifications of Environmental Refugees Critical Evaluations:

1. McGirk, Tim, Time Magazine Online, "Environmental Refugees," http://www.time.com/time/magazine/intl/article/0,9171,1107000131-39102,00.html, 22 June 2001.
   This article originally in Time Magazine discusses the environmental refugees in Central and South America. It was published January 31, 2000. The content is all facts regarding the displacement of millions of people caused by severe weather including droughts, floods, and hurricanes. It is the reporting of Tim McGirk and several others mentioned at the end of the article. The facts given correspond with other sources.

2. Leiderman, Stuart, "Environmental Refugees: Anticipation, Intervention, Restoration," http://pubpages.unh.edu/~leidermn/refugee/ref0001.htm, 21 June 2001.
   This site was compiled regarding a 1996 symposium about environmental refugees. It defines the term and discusses the recent explosion of its use. Presentations of the symposium were summarized and included discussions of refugees in Iraq, Mexico, the Chesapeake Bay, and in toxic areas across the United States. The site's information is five years old, but much of it is still relevant. It includes a very long suggested reading list for those who want to learn more. Leiderman is a professor at the University of New Hampshire. The symposium was obviously of the opinion that the number of environmental refugees needs to be lowered, but it seems to have been based on facts.

3. Myers, Norman, People and the Planet, "Environmental Refugees: A Crisis in the Making," http://www.oneworld.org/patp/pp_eco_refugees.html, 22 June 2001.
   This article by Norman Myers addresses the problem of environmental refugees, and discusses a staggering number of them, most of which are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Oddly, he points out that often the poorest nations offer aid to these people, and he encourages us to be more understanding of this phenomenon. He believes in global warming, a theory that not everyone supports, and states that in the future it will produce many more environmental refugees. The article was originally in People and the Planet, and was written in 1994. Myers's qualifications are that he worked with the Climate Institute of New York to produce his findings. There are no references or data to support his theory.

4. Stranks, Robert, "Policy Commentary: Environmental Refugees?" http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/english/foreignp/dfait/comentary/1997/refugees.htm, 21 June 2001.
   This site discusses the terminology of environmental refugees and the definition of an environmental refugee. The author is of the opinion that environmental refugees are not refugees at all, because they haven't encountered any form of persecution. It comes from the Canadian government, and Stranks is more concerned with policy than anything else. It was written in January 1997, and Stranks does cite his references.

5. Greenpeace, "Warming to Cause 150 Million Environmental Refugees by 2050," http://www.greenpeace.org/~climate/database/records/zgpz0401.html, 21 June 2001.
   This site takes a radical view of environmental refugees, but it is hard to ignore the staggering numbers they proclaim. They say that global warming across the earth will cause flooding that will displace millions of people and destroy farmland. The information was taken from a 1993 article in BioScience by Dr. Norman Myers. Greenpeace is known for their drastic measures to save the environment, and there is an obvious bias. All the information is from one source, and there is no cross-referencing. The site doesn't have anything new and hasn't updated.

Topic 4: Influence of Modern Environmental Scientific Writers/Essayists on Conservation

Critical Evaluations:

1. National Wildlife Federation, "Conservation Hall of Fame: Inductees," http://www.nwf.org/halloffame/inductees.html, 22 June 2001.
   This page offers short biographies for 26 artists and writers who have influenced conservation and environmental groups, making a huge difference over the years. Among the inductees are Jacques Cousteau, Rachel Carson, Henry David Thoreau, and Theodore Roosevelt. The site was last updated in 2001, although it doesn't matter too much because the information is historical. It is written by a nationally recognized organization and is based on fact. Clearly the National Wildlife Federation supports conservation. The information here is consistent with other things I've read.

2. Chang, Chris, Frank Graham Jr., Kenn Kaufman, Yi Shun Lai, Ted Levin, Jon R. Luoma, Gretel Schueller, David Seideman, Carolyn Shea, and Todd Wilkinson, "Champions of Conservation," http://magazine.audubon.org/century/champion.html, 22 June 2001.
   This site, sponsored by Audubon magazine, celebrates 100 years of conservation in the 20th century with a list of 100 people who changed the environment for the better. Included in the list are many writers who have brought awareness to people. The site includes a brief biography of all the "champions" in the list. I believe this site was created in 2000, or at the end of 1999. There are no references, but the biographies consist of facts.

3. Budwig, Lisa, "Breaking Nature's Silence: Pennsylvania's Rachel Carson," http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/pa_env-her/rachel.htm, 21 June 2001. This site gives a full biography of Rachel Carson and discusses how she was able to bring awareness to the government and to people throughout the United States about the dangers of DDT, a chemical commonly used as a pesticide. The information is not recent because, sadly, Carson died in 1964. The article originally appeared in a publication sponsored by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. The author gives facts, but it is obvious that she views Carson positively. The site's goal is to describe Pennsylvania's Environmental Heritage.
4. The Cousteau Society, Dolphin Log, "Jacques-Yves Cousteau," http://www.dolphinlog.org/jacquescousteau.html, 22 June 2001.
   This site is a biography of Jacques Cousteau, who supported and promoted conservation by showing the public the wonders of the ocean. Cousteau wrote more than fifty books with various authors, and created films to show people who had never been diving what the sea was like. By getting people interested, he also got them concerned about protecting the ocean. This site doesn't report any of its authors, but it does come from the Cousteau Society, so it should be accurate. There are no references included.

5. Ohara, Mari, "Environmental Ethics," http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/~sustain/global/sensem/S98/Ohara/EnvEthics.html, 21 June 2001.
   This site discusses the development of environmental ethics and the way in which writers have influenced it. It is a student paper completed in 1998 at the University of California, so it is recent. The sources are very well-documented, and most are from the 1980's and 90's. Ohara has condensed and explained the research of others in her work, and doesn't put her opinions into what she writes.