I can remember back in my “conservative” days when they were trying to stop logging in the Pacific Northwest because it was endangering the habitat of a certain small owl.  I can recall thinking how absurd to put the brakes on an important commercial activity just because of this little insignificant creature.

These days my thinking has changed, radically. In fact, many people call me just that…a radical. I don’t mind because I feel that now, at 53, I have finally discovered what really matters…and it’s not just commercial activity.

A few years ago, here in Cost Rica, one of our rain forest frog species, the Golden Toad, was declared extinct. Another rain forest frog that was declared extinct in 2008, but then rediscovered and placed on the critically endangered list a year later, is Holdridge’s Toad.

The reason cited for these disappearances? Proliferation of a certain mushroom that exudes a substance that adheres to the frog’s skin, basically suffocating the frog (since the frog actually breathes through its skin).

And why is this mushroom proliferating?  Global warming. Biologists say that the disappearance of rain forest frog species is a warning sign that something is going wrong with the planet.

For those of you out there who consider yourself Christian and conservative (as the two often go hand in hand) you need only go to the bible and the story of Noah to understand how important biodiversity is.  You see God didn’t instruct Noah to build the ark just to save man.  He also told him to gather every animal on earth, male and female.

Why? Perhaps to preserve the earth’s biodiversity is a rational conclusion.

In a book I read a while back, Hot, Flat and Crowded, Tom Friedman includes a very inspiring chapter entitled, A Million Noahs, A Million Arks.  He discusses how governments and people, like you and me, can play a vital role in biodiversity preservation.

Basically the idea is that the earth’s biodiversity “hot spots”, such Costa Rica, should be looked at as arks, or potential arks.  And that we need Noahs or coalitions of Noahs to take action to build and preserve them.

His requisites for ark-building are as follows: (1) set aside of protected areas as being off-limits to development and regulation of development in other areas so as to have minimal impact (2) economic opportunities for local communities to enable them to thrive without harming biodiversity; (3) private sector investors who seek to invest in preserving biodiversity, raise local living standards, and make a profit, all at the same time (what many eco-developers have done here in Costa Rica and what the Certificate for Sustainable Tourism program promotes); (4) local governments that are able and willing to protect diversity while not giving in to corrupt practices (a problem Costa Rica has definitely suffered); (5) biodiversity assessments by local and international experts so that areas that need protection can be accurately delineated; (6) education of young people so that they can acquire the skills that will make it unnecessary to plunder the environment to make a living.

A very challenging list, I would say.

Costa Rica is a biodiversity ark and ticos should be proud that its government and private sector have together taken many of the above steps to create and maintain the country as a biodiversity “ark.”  However, more needs to be done.

As the owner of a Costa Rica vacation business, as well as a permanent resident of this country, the concept of “ark-building” is intriguing.  Because, truthfully, we can all play a role. We can all be a Noah.

Start by refusing to buy into the argument that this is not an important issue, or that it is a political issue, or simply a conservative versus liberal argument.

In reality, this is a preservation of the planet, and ultimately ourselves, issue.