The Indigenous People of Costa Rica: Protecting Human Rights and Biodiversity

This topic submitted by Daniel Beck ( beckdp@muohio.edu) at 4:16 PM on 5/15/08.

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According to the U.S. State DepartmentÕs Bureau of Human Rights, There are nearly 70,000 indigenous people in Costa Rica, comprising eight different ethnic groups. A tiny fraction of the general populace, the indigenous minority amounts to only 2% of the total population (U.S. Department of State). Despite well-intentioned national legislation protecting indigenous rights in the country, a combination of economic interests and a general lack of concern for their well-being have exerted significant pressure on the continued survival of traditional indigenous ways of life. This political and social neglect threatens the basic human rights of the indigenous populations as well as the possibility for respectfully learning from these groupsÕ traditional knowledge about the inherent value of Costa RicaÕs rich biodiversity. This essay intends to address the institutional and economic forces working against the indigenous population as well as the role indigenous knowledge plays with respect to biodiversity. It is important to stress the inherent value of indigenous cultures which need protection from neglect and violation of rights as well as the instrumental value of indigenous knowledge about medicinal plant species. The main challenge will be attempting to balance desire to utilize medicinal plant knowledge for pharmaceutical benefit while also strongly respecting the rights and properties of indigenous peoples.

A little bit of cultural and historical background about the varying indigenous peoples of Costa Rica is necessary to understand the issues surrounding them. The eight groups making up Costa RicaÕs indigenous population are the Bruncas (Borucas), Bribris, CabŽcares, Chorotegas, Huetares, Malekus, Gnšbes, and Teribes (Miller 367). Historically, the majority of the indigenous tribes, specifically the Bruncas, Bribris, and CabŽcares originate from the southeastern part of Costa Rica (1. Stone 3 and 2. Stone 3). Subsistence farming techniques vary according to the geographic location of the people. Slash and burn agriculture is more prevalent closer to the Pacific ocean, this practice being less important in other indigenous populated areas (1. Stone 11). Slash and burn, or swidden, agriculture is a technique that enriches a nutrient poor soil by burning all of the vegetation in the area. The nutrients from the vegetation can now be used to raise crops because the vegetation has been turned into ash and intermixed into the soil, transforming it into nutrient rich soil. Studies have shown that swidden techniques are not harmful to the soil in the short run (Kricher 176-77).

Traditional methods of social and economic organization of indigenous peoples have been greatly influenced and transformed by the cultural practices of the Spanish settlers since the late 16th century (InfoCostaRica). In order to preserve their culture and escape mistreatment, many of the native Costa Ricans retreated to the mountains. The Bribris and the CabŽcares are originally a matrilineal clan society, although the customs and morals surrounding marriage have become less observed among the people (1. Stone 35). The BriBris, CabŽcares, as well as the Bruncas all traditionally have a more communal approach to land ownership than Western notions of private property. Although the Costa Rican government passed a 1977 law establishing Indian reserves so as to give a space for these indigenous peoples to continue living in more traditional and communalistic ways, the government has not been proactive in making this legislation a reality (InfoCostaRica). According to the South and Meso American Indian Rights Center, ÒOn some reservations more than 80% of the territory is in the hands of non-Indigenous peopleÓ (Schulting).

The medicine man, known as the jaw‡ to the Bribris and CabŽcares, plays several important roles as religious figure, healer of physical and spiritual ailments, and vast reservoir of traditional knowledge about the uses of many tropical plant species (1. Stone 41). Due to the influence of Roman Catholic religion, the Bruncas no longer practice shamanism, although they do still seek out medicine men from the other tribes in times of grave illness (2. Stone 25). As Doris Stone notes, ÒStudy and knowledge of forest lore are requisitesÓ for the training of medicine men (1. 41). It is through a combination of spiritual powers and ethnobotanical knowledge that these medicine men do accrue respect among the people. Much of the ethnobotanical knowledge of Neotropical species possibly useful in the combat against diseases is contained within the minds of a small number of shamans. Loss of these important figures would be disastrous for efforts to understand the natural healing properties of many Neotropical plants.

Recent work in the past several decades by international agencies and indigenous rights activists have done much to propose solutions and increase awareness of indigenous issues in countries around the world. Several recent international treaties have been most influential in aiding the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica, including the U.N. Declaration on Indigenous Rights (2007) and the International Labor Organization Convention 169 (1993). Costa Rica is a signatory to both important documents, and due to article 7 of their constitution, the government must therefore recognize these international treaties as higher authority than national laws (Schulting). However, the Costa Rican authorities have tended in a direction less favorable to the indigenous peoples than is mandated by these treaties. The slow implementation history of the ILO Convention 169 is evidence of this.

This convention calls for the effort to close socio-economic gaps between indigenous peoples and the rest of society, the recognition of equality under the law regardless of ethnic affiliation, and the protection of indigenous cultures from extinction, among other provisions (ILO Convention No. 169). According to the Center for South and Meso American Rights, the Costa Rican government has not respected these basic requirements set out by the convention in several ways. First, in order to be recognized by the government, indigenous advocacy groups must organize themselves along lines set out by the governmental communal development associations. This forces them to organize in ways foreign to their own culture, thus not respecting the provision for cultural protection. Second, Costa Rican government has not established the necessary penalties and enforcement policies to punish illegal non-indigenous encroachment on government protected indigenous reserve lands.

Third, although some improvement has been made in this area, the government has failed to adequately provide for the health and educational needs holding indigenous peoples back in terms of socio-economic well-being. Often, the remoteness of the rural indigenous populations is cited as the main factor in the governmentÕs failure in this respect (Schulting). Although these criticisms were made in 1997, only a few years after implementation of the convention, still in 2007 over 40% of the reserves are controlled by non-indigenous peoples (U.S. State Department). Furthermore, a 2007 article in the New Internationalist reports that one third of indigenous people do not have access to basic healthcare, education, transport, and water services. Life expectancy for indigenous individuals is 15 years lower than other Costa Ricans (Reynolds).

Issues of bioprospecting and biodiversity have presented more challenges to the preservation of indigenous peoples in Costa Rica today. Costa Rica has recognized that biodiversity is one of its most important natural resources and has undertaken steps to preserve this resource for national interests from outside economic competition and environmental degradation. Along the way, it has been successful in this area in protecting the intellectual property rights of indigenous peoples concerning medicinal uses of tropical plants. In 1998, Costa Rica passed the Biodiversity Law which Òcalls for an inclusive institution to implement conservation by recognizing the economic importance of biodiversity as balanced against impacts on the rights of rural communitiesÓ (Miller 359).

ÒBioprospectingÓ refers to the Òsearching for, collecting, and deriving genetic material from samples of biodiversity that can be used in commercialized pharmaceutical, agricultural, industrial, or chemical processing end productsÓ (Bioprospecting Ð Fact Sheet). One of the main problems with this process is the tendency of bioprospectors to fail to provide fair compensation to the nations and indigenous people who are the sources for extracting the relevant samples of biodiversity. Such a contract negotiated between Merck and the Costa Rican government fueled the particular actions that led to the 1998 law. What is exemplary about this law is the inclusion of indigenous and rural rights advocacy groups (National Peasant and Indigenous Boards) in its drafting. Their inclusion especially influenced the addition of provisions to protect rural community rights and to require direct involvement of these communities in negotiation and legislation processes (Miller 370-371).

In the near term future, the threat that Òfree tradeÓ represents for the sustaining of small- scale traditional indigenous agriculture will become more and more noticeable. In February 2008, many Costa Rican indigenous people began to protest free trade agreements signed between the United States and Central American nations including Costa Rica. Indigenous groups fear that the invasion of genetically modified seeds and competition from large American agricultural companies will threaten the use of ancestral crops and exert more pressure on indigenous individuals involved in subsistence farming. Although the Costa Rican government has already approved the trade agreement last October, they have until October 1 of this year to impose all of the complementary laws of the trade agreement still being debated in the legislature (ÒCosta Rican Indigenous Protest FTTÓ).

Although there have been and there will continue to be many political and social obstacles hindering the indigenous peoples of Costa Rica from fully realizing their rights and privileges, recent development do point hopefully to the future. Costa Rican ratification of the recent UN declaration on Indigenous rights provides indigenous rights activists with yet another tool to pressure their government for further implementation of existing legislature protecting indigenous communities. Furthermore, Costa Rica has shown initiative in protecting indigenous communities from the possible harms of bio-prospecting. As well, although a large portion of reserve lands are still owned by non-indigenous individuals, the official figures have been dropping. Protection of and respect for the indigenous people of Costa Rica needs to be continued in light of pressure from free trade policies so that Costa Rican society does not lose such an immense reservoir of cultural history and local knowledge of biodiversity.

References:

1. Stone, Doris. The Talamancan Tribes of Costa Rica. Peabody Museum of Harvard
University. Cambridge: 1962.

2. ---. The Boruca of Costa Rica. Peabody Museum of Harvard University. Cambridge: 1949.

3. Schulting, Gerard. ÒIndigenous Peoples in Costa Rica: On the Road to Extinction?Ó Journal of the South and Mesoamerican Indian Rights Center. Vol. 10, No. 4, Fall 1997. http://saiic.nativeweb.org/ayn/crilo.html

4. Miller, Michael J. ÒBiodiversity Policy Making in Costa Rica: Pursuing Indigenous and Peasant Rights.Ó The Journal of Environment and Development. Vol. 15, No. 4, December 2006. http://jed.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/15/4/359

5. ÒILO Convention No. 169.Ó September 5, 1991. University of Minnesota Human Rights Library. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/instree/r1citp.htm

6. ÒCosta Rican Indigenous Protest FTT.Ó Prensa Latina: Latin American News Agency. February 28, 2008. http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B63533D9E-2C60-467C-9612-451E70730101%7D)&language=EN

7. Infocostarica Staff. ÒÉIndigenous PeopleÉ.Ó InfoCostaRica.
http://www.infocostarica.com/people/indigenous.html

8. ÒCountry Reports on Human Rights Practices 2007: Costa Rica.Ó Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor: U.S. Department of State. March 11, 2008. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100634.htm

9. Kricher, John. A Neotropical Companion. Princeton University Press. Princeton: 1997

10. "BIOPROSPECTING - FACT SHEET." Hawaii State government. http://hawaii.gov/lrb/rpts06/bioconfs.html

11. Reynolds, Louisa. "Costa Rica: Country Profile." New Internationalist. 2007 Sept Issue 404. http://www.newint.org/columns/country/2007/09/01/costa-rica/

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