Study: Ecotourism lowers poverty

Economists find that protected areas reduce poverty in Costa Rica The Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Photos by Rhett A. Butler A new study has quantified a point long advocated by advocates of setting aside protected areas: ecotourism pays. The research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), finds that communities neighboring conservation areas in Costa Rica had lower rates of poverty relative to other areas.