I have always welcomed everyone. I have always given my best.
To the world, I am a refuge for nature. I am promoted as a model of conservation and protection.
It is said that my existence is very relevant to the future generations.
Pictures of me are taken. My natural beauty , my great biodiversity, the colors and shapes of the species that inhabit in me all are subjects of admiration. Nature has grown in harmony in my lands and over thousands of years, people had come to be part of that balance.
Several centuries back, men with helmets and armors arrived and started to mistreat my lands but with the passing of time, their children and grandchildren had quieted down and had came closer to our habitual harmony.
At the beginning of the 20th century, their descendants proclaimed that certain parts of my skin could not be touched and would be protected with an eye on the future, but at about the same time I began to be raped in larger areas to clear space to feed the cattle and plant new crops.
Many of the northern forests that had kept me fresh during many centuries, suddenly were no longer there. Now became plains that would be used to produce grains, meat and milk. I understood this, but it saddened me and it was disconcerting to discover that in those areas declared "protected", very few really took care of me; the hunters and lumberjacks continued invading that areas.
These days, I continue to receive new kicks and I am feeling those quite frequently. Fortunately, the number of people who appreciate and value nature is increasing. People who have a more caring and conservationist outlook. I'm truly grateful for their respect, but to be frank, I also notice that the majority goes no further than good intentions. My wounds and those of the rest of the planet will not heal only with good intentions.
No advertisement, no declaration, no campaign could do it. Only concrete action on a large scale could be of help. Today I know I continue to be appreciated, but I am no longer sure of being as well respected. People are still happy to live here and all want to visit me. One square meter of my lands are very highly valued.
It appears that the lives that inhabit them are not important any more. The forests keep disappearing. The animals, too. Those who ruled over the men of these lands months ago declared "Peace with Nature". That day I thought that now everything would be better. Soon after, sad and confused again, I learned that this declaration apparently would not apply to me.
At the same time of declaring to me the alleged "Peace", they decided to reactivate the extraction of petroleum and the open sky mining over my soil, scarcely a few years after having finally achieved its prohibition. The country says it wants to attain being "Carbon Neutral", however it was opting for burning more petroleum to compensate for its electricity deficit.
The "protected" areas still have very few to "guard" them and very low budgets.And to top it off, the size of some of them have even been recently reduced. Now, in this "natural refuge patrimony of humanity" the right of a few to "patent life" is supported, encouraging bio-piracy and animal and plant trafficking to extract from them the "ingredients from nature" and to amass fortunes for the "rights" of them.
Today, they want to cut down large expanses of millenarian primary forests to fill their lands with damaging plantations of pineapple, which irritate my skin. And the introduction of new species continues to increase, some of those highly invasive.
....Between the extraction and the new populations that have been introduced, it's been very difficult for me to maintain a balance.
...And in the ocean, the situation is heading in the same direction.
I don't understand what's happening. Do you want me, or not, as a natural refuge? Why is one thing said but something different done? This is all very confusing. The country's economic well-being is based on tourism. Tourism comes for the beauty of its Nature. That is, the well-being of the country depends on it's Nature.
If it's Nature is threatened, then so is the well-being of the country. The entities that should protect me, don't.The funds for my care are diluted. All this happens under the auspices of double talk and within the framework of ghost laws that no one observes, laws that are abused day after day.
It drains me to watch pompous parades of irresponsible and indolent people.
Of selfish people, even liars. Of so many irresponsible functionaries who ignore their mission in exchange for some personal gain. I now recognize the classical spiel: "We have made a preliminary study", "We shall take immediate action", "We are studying the situation", "We are processing the resources", "The law clearly establishes it", and blah, blah, blah.
The reality is that little by little I will become a sewer, as has happened with so many of my sisters throughout the rest of the planet. Today, people even have started to fight over water. This I cannot understand as I still produce it in abundance. It's just a matter of managing it wisely.
Things are not working out the same nowadays. I'm still green, but I'm beginning to fade....
I have always given my best and of course I will try to continue to do the same.
But the time has come when I must ask for your help. The moment has come for me to ask you for true PEACE. Not that expressed in fancy words, but one that is real, with real and decisive action.
If humanity helps me, I assure you that I, too, can help. If not, then I cannot promise you future well-being. Maybe to you I still can, but I'm not sure whether I will be capable of properly protecting your children.
For this, I need the help of each and every one of my guests. I need all and every one of you... And I need you NOW.
Ecotourism and Nature 
