Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [38]
With Costa Rican parks contributing significantly to both national and local economies through the huge influx of tourist money, there is little question that the country’s healthy natural environment is important to its citizens. In general, support for land preservation remains high because it provides income and jobs to so many people, plus important opportunities for scientific investigation.
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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Costa Rica is a mixed bag in terms of environmental issues. No other tropical country has made such a concerted effort to protect the environment and in 2008 Costa Rica was ranked one of the top five nations in the world for its overall environmental performance. At the same time, as the global leader in the burgeoning ecotourism economy, Costa Rica is proving to be a case study in the pitfalls and benefits of ecological tourism.
Adrian Forsyth has written several colorful children’s books about the rainforest, including Journey Through a Tropical Jungle and How Monkeys Make Chocolate.
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Deforestation
Can you believe that this tropical paradise was once entirely carpeted in lush rainforests? Tragically, after more than a century of clearing for plantations, agriculture and logging, Costa Rica lost about 80% of its forest cover before the government stepped in with a plan to protect what was left. Through its many programs of forest protection and reforestation, 52% of the country is forested once again – a stunning accomplishment.
Despite protection for two-thirds of the remaining forests, cutting trees is still a major problem for Costa Rica, especially on private lands being cleared by wealthy landowners and multinational corporations. Even within national parks, some of the more remote areas are being logged illegally because there is not enough money to hire guards to enforce the law.
Apart from the direct loss of tropical forests and the plants and animals that depend on them, deforestation leads directly or indirectly to other severe environmental problems. Forests protect the soil beneath them from the ravages of tropical rainstorms; after deforestation much of the topsoil is washed away, lowering the productivity of the land and silting up watersheds and downstream coral reefs.
Green Phoenix, by science journalist William Allen, is an absorbing account of his efforts, alongside scientists and activists, to conserve and restore the rainforest in Guanacaste.
Cleared lands are frequently planted with a variety of crops, including Costa Rica’s main agricultural product, bananas, the production of which entails the use of pesticides as well as blue plastic bags to protect the fruit. Both the pesticides and the plastic bags end up polluting the environment. See boxed text, for information on how this has also impacted humans.
THE ESSENTIAL RAINFOREST
One of the most common media buzzwords these days is ‘climate change’ or ‘global warming,’ particularly in regard to humans negatively impacting the health and sustainability of the planet. As developing nations continue to modernize, global carbon emissions rise and evidence of the greenhouse effect can be felt across the planet.
One of the best defenses humans have against rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels is the tropical rainforest. Tropical rainforests limit the greenhouse effect of global warming by storing carbon and hence reducing the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere – they act as a ‘carbon sink.’ Unfortunately, our best defense against climate change is rapidly being destroyed the world over. In an example of the interconnectedness of environments,