In Costa Rica, the absence of tourists means a greater need for food banks

Holidaymakers are the lifeforce of coastal town Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and not having them has repercussions for livelihoods and for the environment

‘It’s everything. Tourism feeds me and my daughter. It lets me give jobs to 22 people. It goes into the whole community,” says Naima Montejo, owner of Surf Meds Caribe, the only female-run surf school on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast.

“We’ve been planting, growing food, trying to come back to our roots,” she says. “There’s not much money, so we’ve been trading. Some trees or seeds, some yucca or plantain. We switch. People are getting together, being creative. What we can do is help each other.”