the town square at kalu yala. (alex schwartz\/medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nthe institute is currently the main source of revenue for the town, but stice aims to build a fully functioning town, complete with a thriving industry of tourism and hospitality. the hostel is the first step for tourism as interns continue to at the institute continue to innovate sustainable energy, culinary, agriculture and water resource solutions for the community. now, stice plans to build accommodations that are more comfortable for people who aren\u2019t used to camping in the jungle.<\/p>\n
\u201cwe’ll start introducing the small houses, which will allow for people who want to sleep on a real mattress,\u201d he said. people could purchase houses or just vacation in them \u2013 \u201c$150 nights is inclusive just like $13 a night is inclusive\u201d for the hostel, he said.<\/p>\n
tara mclaughlin, president of the kalu yala institute for the interns who are helping to develop kalu yala, believes that ecotourism and social entrepreneurship are lucrative industries to be a part of right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cthat current desire to be sustainable, or trying to make a difference, but also having that desire to travel \u2013 if you offer a product that allows somebody to do both of those things, then it’s a very desirable product,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
with an experimental project like kalu yala, it\u2019s possible that it could become a tourist trap rather than an authentic town. stice likened this potential outcome to a \u201cdisneyland of sustainability,\u201d but that\u2019s the worst case scenario, he said. he wants to balance tourism with other businesses and industries in the town, as well as the educational component.<\/p>\n
marie stringer is capitalizing on this ecotourism potential by starting a zip line business at kalu yala. she believes that panama is an ideal market opportunity because it currently doesn\u2019t have many zip lines, and the scenic jungle and rain forest surrounding kalu yala are stunning.<\/p>\n
\u201cthere\u2019s a reason why we\u2019re building a million-dollar zip line and it\u2019s paying for itself in two years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
she plans to hire local people from the nearby town of san miguel and former kalu yala interns to be the zip line guides. one of her top priorities is creating well-paid jobs in the small community and providing her employees with new skills \u2013 they will have access to free language classes so that all guides can be fluent in both english and spanish. she wants to emphasize this social change aspect throughout her business.<\/p>\n
however, any social change arising from tourism also brings cultural exchange, which can have unintended outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201ctourism is about moving people from one place to another,\u201d valiente said. \u201cwhen you move people from one place to another, you\u2019re not only moving people: you\u2019re moving experiences, you\u2019re moving culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cwe had a group out here partying for panamanian carnival,\u201d mclaughlin said. \u201cdealing with that cultural collision, i think was both good for the students and both good for the panamanians that came out here. they learned a lot about what we’re doing.\u201d<\/p>\nkalu yala interns dance with local san miguel residents at \u201cjungle prom,\u201d the celebration of the end of their semester. (abigail foerstner\/medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nso far this cultural exchange has been positive, but as tourism continues to grow, san miguel residents may look to tourism as an alternative to the tradition of farming in the area. valiente has seen the negative effects of tourism in his home on the islands, and this is why he believes it is important for tourists to consider sustainability when they travel, learning about the cultural values of places they visit and minimizing the physical footprint they leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cit is important because when we move from one place to another, we affect the place and we make an impact on the place we are going to,\u201d he said. \u201cand we have the choice of making that a good or a bad impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
valiente believes that this impact would be more positive if tourists built relationships with the people whose homes they\u2019re visiting and made an effort to interact with them.<\/p>\n
\u201chow do they see you?\u201d he asked. \u201cwhat do they see that you are coming to do here? do they see that you are coming just to relax and chill out at the beach? or do they see that you are coming here to interact with them and be interested in our culture, which is \u2013 besides the water and the nice beaches \u2013 one of the most important assets we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
despite the fact that the guna culture is one of their most valuable assets, valiente has watched it struggle to survive western influence.<\/p>\n
\u201cunfortunately, in the occidental world we have a very colonial society that forces people to believe that materialism is the best way to live: that buying stuff is what is going to make you feel happy,\u201d he said. \u201cbut for the guna people, we don\u2019t have to be rich in this life, because according to us, when we die we are going to go to a place where everything is gold. so for us, material stuff is not important. but when you start getting people that come here and have cell phones and have tvs and talk about all this stuff that happens in the western society, then you also start wondering, \u2018ok, am i living good here (on) an island in the middle of nowhere? or should i also get a cell phone? should i also get a tv? should i also get cable tv?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
for this reason, valiente can see a positive side to leaving the islands. \u201ci think it\u2019s a great opportunity for everyone to embrace a culture that\u2019s about to get lost,\u201d he said. he wants to publish art across panama that makes people realize, \u201cokay, that culture is being lost, but it\u2019s time also for us to get it back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cinstead of looking it as something maybe bad or very negative, we could look at it as something totally positive and something that could even make our society better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
although climate change threatens to push the guna people away from their island homes, the tragedy may allow them to regain part of their culture that has changed with tourism, he said. however, it is still unclear how their economy will recover from the loss of tourism or how much of it they can reestablsih with the mainland as a base. in the meantime, only time will tell how the budding ecotourism industry at kalu yala may affect the culture of san miguel.<\/p>\n
despite the challenges that arise from tourism and climate change, l\u00f3pez believes that the native cultures in panama will survive.<\/p>\n
\u201ccultures are dynamic: we\u2019ll lose some of it and then we will integrate new things,\u201d he said. \u201cat some point, what we had 100 years ago is not going to be the same anymore. but cultures (are) dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
the indigenous guna people of panama prepare to leave the islands they call home due to rising sea levels, while entrepreneur jimmy stice builds a sustainable town in the jungle of panama. elizabeth guthrie of medill reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9417,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4907,4916],"tags":[144,3014,3715,4001,3786,3468],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-12195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-economics","category-climate","tag-climate-change","tag-coastal","tag-ecotourism","tag-guna-yala","tag-kalu-yala","tag-tourism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
a tale of two sustainabilities: tradition and tourism - planet forward<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n