Today

Overview (Benefits, Protected Areas, Status):

Costa Rica’s rainforests have historically contained a vast amount of biodiversity from different species of birds, animals, and plant life.  According to one estimate, Costa Rica is home to five percent of the world’s plant and bird species (21).  This immense biodiversity provides mankind with a variety of services including food production, nutrient cycling, fuel, and water purification (2).  Although these services are declining as the amount of biodiversity declines, some measures are being taken to preserve what is left of the ecosystem.  The map below outlines the various conservation areas and national parks all over Costa Rica:

Conservation Areas (1)

Yellow area showing the deforestation of Costa Rica's forests (green area) over time (25)

Human Impacts:

Deforestation, or the destruction and deterioration of areas within a forest, is the major problem due to negative human impacts taking place in Costa Rica. One study estimates that only a quarter of Costa Rica's rain forests are still in existence today (21). Over 95,000 square miles of Costa Rican rainforest are lost annually due to clear cutting practices (25). Animals that need vast amounts of land to roam are seeing their habitats shrink causing endangerment and possible extinction of the species. Several reasons exist to why deforestation is occurring in Costa Rica, but these are the main few:

 Logging: Logging companies will clear an entire area even if to only extract one or two profitable species from the area because it is more cost-effective. These companies also create logging roads in order to transport trees causing habitat fragmentation for animal species (8).

Cattle Ranching: Deforestation occurs when companies clear land for grazing. According to statistics, 60% of Costa Rica’s forest has been cleared away in production of grazing land (8). In the 1960’s, international figures such as the US funded over a million dollars to Costa Rica in order to incite beef production, which dramatically devastated much of the tropical forest.

Agriculture: The focus on agriculture in Costa Rica contributes to deforestation in order to make land for farming. For example, banana plantations cover 130,000 acres of previously forested land (8). 

Tourism: Costa Rica relies heavily on its revenue gained from tourism. Tourism contributes to deforestation when forest areas are clear cut to make way for hotels, shopping centers, and the like. 

Decline in Deforestation 1960-2005 (9)

Despite the vast amount of deforestation occurring in Costa Rica, there are some positive human impacts as well.  The country is also a hot spot for ecotourism especially among tourists from the United States (16).  The vast amount of money people pay to view exquisite Costa Rican sites can be funneled back into conservation efforts aimed at protecting the less than thirty percent of forest cover still in existence (16).

      Conservation Status: Ok!

The conservation status for Cost Rica’s tropical rainforest is OK and improving. Although Costa Rica has had problems with deforestation in the past, ecotourism and the establishment of parks and conservation areas have helped the ecosystem slowly revive.