What happens when entire communities build their tourist businesses and livelihoods around an active  volcano?

That is the story of the rural communities surrounding Poás Volcano in the aftermath of this year’s eruptions that caused closure of the Poás Volcano National Park.

The closure has left dozens if not hundreds of families struggling for their survival, having switched from agricultural related activities to tourism in previous decades when visitors started arriving by the thousands to chance to see the volcano’s blue crater and hike trails through the park’s enchanted misty forests.

Residents have organized to clamor for the government to re-open the national park, in a recent interview by Costa Rica’s Monumental Radio.

The last big eruption was on August 24, and the colossus continues to regularly spew vapor, gas, and some ash in varying amounts and intensities, and its activity can be viewed through this real-time camera near the crater.

President of the Chamber of Tourism and Commerce in Poás, Lionel Araya, said businesses are seeking at least a partial reopening and a regular surveillance by emergency officials of the volcano’s activity so timely decisions can be made that allow for tourists to return to the region.

Araya said representatives of the chamber would seek out officials from the National Emergency Commission for explanations as to why the park remains closed, and if they do not receive results they said they will petition the president and legislators to attempt to get the park installations cleaned up and open to the public so businesses can resume their tourist activities.

Araya said at least 55 companies depend on the tourism generated by the volcano, and the economic impact by its closure has been severe in several communities.

Data from the National Chamber of Tourism show that business losses in the Poás Volcano area have close to 70 percent in some cases, which has resulted in layoffs and economic vulnerability for many families.

Building a business and a local economy around such natural phenomena definitely has its own unique risks.