Deforestation in Costa Rica

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Costa Rica's tropical landscape A Guanacaste view.jpg
Costa Rica's tropical landscape

Deforestation is a major threat to biodiversity and ecosystems in Costa Rica. The country has a rich biodiversity with some 12,000 species of plants, 1,239 species of butterflies, 838 species of birds, 440 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 232 species of mammals, which have been under threat from the effects of deforestation. [1] Agricultural development, cattle ranching, and logging have caused major deforestation as more land is cleared for these activities. Despite government efforts to mitigate deforestation, it continues to cause harm to the environment of Costa Rica by impacting flooding, soil erosion, desertification, and loss of biodiversity.

Contents

History

The land currently being used for forestry in Costa Rica was at one point used by the Cabécar People. Like many other native cultures, they used slash and burn agriculture to manage their small-scale agriculture. In the early 1900s, companies based in England began to encroach on the Cabecars' land to use it for coffee plantations. These plantations relied on labor from both the indigenous peoples and the Mestizos. With this came government pressure to increase the land used for timber production in order to boost the country's economy. [2] This policy was continued until the 1990s, when government regulations were spearheaded to create national parks and forest reserves.

The history of the Costa Rican forests can be difficult to discover, due to the gaps in research and data. However, several counts have been taken of the forests that have been used in timber production from the years 1940 to 1983. [3] Despite these numbers, the actual percentage of deforestation cannot be known for certain because these counts were taken using aerial imaging over the land legally designated for Costa Rica's timber export. By 1940, over 75% of the available land zoned for forestry was being used for either timber or agricultural production. [2] Again, the true count cannot be known due to illegal logging.

YearPercentage of
forest remaining
194067%
195056%
196143%
197732%
198317%

Causes

Cattle Ranching

When the population of Costa Rica increased in the 1950s and meat prices increased around the globe, the citizens began cutting down the forests to provide pasture for cattle ranching and beef for export, which generated revenue for Costa Rica. Since the 1950s, pasture land expanded by approximately 62% meaning huge amounts of forest had been cleared to make room for cattle ranching causing Costa Rica to have one of the highest deforestation rates in the world during the 1960s. [4] The problem was worsened because during the 1960s, the United States offered Costa Rican cattle ranchers millions of dollars in loans to produce beef. However, following a collapse of the meat market in the 1980s, Costa Rica experienced an increase in abandoned farm land. Despite these downfalls, cattle ranching still persists in Costa Rica and in 2017 35.5% of landmass was being used for grazing and 30% of estimated greenhouse gas emissions were from livestock. [5]

Agriculture

While cattle ranching is a significant cause of deforestation in Costa Rica, agriculture and cash crop productions, namely banana plantations, have also significantly contributed to the problem. [6] Lowland rainforest has been most affected where 130,000 acres (530 km2) of previously forested land (primarily in the Atlantic and Northern regions) have been removed.

Population Dynamics

Although most of the larger plantations in Costa Rica are owned by large companies, often multinationals, population pressure in Costa Rica has increased the demand for land as poor citizens are forced to venture out into rural and forested areas. In the 1990s, it was found that the role of population dynamics had a greater influence on the continued deforestation than the growing population. The economic crisis in the 1980s saw a decline in migration into the city and more poor people with no land moving to abandoned farms and other rural lands. This added to the environmental degradation in forest areas and further deforestation along roads as people began to encroach on forested areas. [6] In the Osa Peninsula peasants squatted 10,000 hectares until President Daniel Oduber Quirós created the Corcovado National Park. [7]

Lack of Government Intervention

While certain conservation laws have been passed in Costa Rica, the government lacks the resources to enforce them.

Over half of Costa Rica's existing forest cover today is under the protection of national parks, biological reserves, or wildlife refuges. However, a prominent contribution in regard to deforestation is the privately owned plots, which occupy the other half, that are subject to little government regulation. Lenient laws on land and amendments to forestry law makes it easy to obtain legal logging concessions thus, owners exploit the land to maximize income. Furthermore, incentive programs designed to compensate landowners for ecosystem services and promote conservation efforts have had little influence on minimizing deforestation rates.

Effects

Deforestation in Costa Rica has a very serious impact on the environment and therefore may directly or indirectly contribute to flooding, desertification, sedimentation in rivers, loss of wildlife diversity, and the obvious sheer loss of timber. Since the end of World War II, approximately 80% of the forests of Costa Rica have disappeared. Approximately 20,000 acres (8,100 ha) of land are deforested annually; in the 1990s the country had one of the worst deforestation rates in Central America.

The deforestation of Costa Rica's tropical rain forests as in other countries is a threat to life worldwide. Soil erosion has increased with deforestation with the topsoil washed away from the hills into the streams and out into the oceans, year after year.

Industries responsible for agricultural plantations and food production have been synonymous with health risks, notably the high levels of toxic pesticides which affected thousands of plantation workers throughout Central America in the 1970s. Pesticides used to grow bananas and other fruits such as mangoes and citrus fruit may enter the hydrological systems and contaminate the water. The removal of the forest to make way for these fruit plantations may also disrupt the nutrient balance in the soil and through monoculture exhaust the soils and render them unsustainable.

Deforestation, particular from cattle ranching and poor agricultural practices, can cause drought as the removal of trees increases the ground's sun exposure, evaporating more water from the soil and drying up the land. [5]   This in turn decreases the amount of water available for transportation, irrigation, and drinking/bathing. Furthermore, as more land is cleared for livestock and pastureland, the resulting deforestation can disrupt the water cycle causing changes in the amount of rainfall and atmospheric moisture which can exacerbate the negative impacts of droughts. On top of that, clearing of trees to support livestock results in more erosion as there are less trees and other plants to hold the soil in place and lock in moisture. Deforestation coupled with unplanned grazing has also decreased the amount of vegetation available to absorb carbon dioxide. Furthermore, the growing number of cattle has increased the amount of methane production, a potent greenhouse gas that heavily contributes to climate change and global warming effects. [5]

Furthermore, little research has been done on the public's understanding of the effects of climate change in countries outside of Europe and North America. The perception of climate change is also understudied, especially in developing countries like Costa Rica. Research shows that people are most concerned about food and water shortages, poverty, and weather conditions (i.e. heat waves) impacting communities now and in the future as a result of climate change. [8] In general the public trend is low knowledge, high concern, yet minimal engagement in preventing the effects of climate change. In Costa Rica, citizens name deforestation as having the biggest impact, followed by ozone layer depletion, fossil fuels, and only a small number naming livestock as a major contributor. [8]

Decline of deforestation 1977-2005

The amount of Costa Rican land deforested annually has declined since 1977: [9]

YearForest cleared
(hectares)
197752,000
198343,550
198542,000
198732,000
199117,947
199618,000
20003,033
20054,737

Response

The forests of Arenal Volcano National Park. Arenal Volcano as seen from Monteverde.jpg
The forests of Arenal Volcano National Park.

The government response in Costa Rica has been lauded by many scientists and climate change researchers as having one of the most effective government programs to combat deforestation. [10] The conservation program in Costa Rica is particularly ambitious and is one of the most developed among tropical rainforest countries. The largest factor contributing to this was the monetary incentives that Costa Rica implemented in order to incentivize land owners to replant trees. [11]

PES Program

PES (Payments for Environmental Services program) [10] was founded in 1996 in order to pay farmers for implementing practices that protected watersheds and decreased the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. [11] The program pays landowners US$64 per hectare of untouched or replanted forest. [11] The PES program utilizes a national tax on fossil fuels to pay for protected forests[]. Despite the government experiencing policy changes, the PES program has remained in place for over 20 years. The program has paid US$524 million to farmers contracted under PES since its inception in 1996. [12] There are three different programs that farmers can benefit from: forest protection, reforestation, sustainable forest management and agroforestry. [12]

The PES program is also celebrated for targeting specific underrepresented groups in land ownership, such as women and indigenous people, to be a part of the program. There are also specific programs that exist to incentivize small farmers to continue their sustainable practices. [12] Those who benefit from the program use the proceeds to improve the quality of life in the farms and surrounding areas.

Despite this, the PES program does have its drawbacks as some farms and villages are unaware of the program because of lack of awareness. [13] Smaller farms may be less inclined to be used for the PES program if there is little carbon dioxide reduction possible for those particular areas. [13] Certain regulations and standards also decrease the amount of farms that are able to participate in the program.

National Bamboo Project

The National Bamboo Project of Costa Rica was founded in 1986 to help decrease deforestation. The scheme aims at reducing deforestation by means of replacing timber with bamboo as a primary building material and providing low cost housing for Costa Rica's rural poor. By cultivating and building with Guadua species, indigenous giant bamboos, the National Bamboo Project was able to raise thousands of new homes for the poor, benefit the environment, and advance bamboo-based building technology. [14]

In a number of parts of Costa Rica, areas that were bare ten years ago have now been reforested. [15] Many non-government conservation organizations are working in the country to prevent deforestation and further these efforts of preservation and restoration. The country has also significantly taken advantage of ecotourism, taking the initiative to raise revenue through tourism while still protecting the forests. [1] Today, while deforestation rates have declined greatly from the 1990s with increased conservation efforts and such schemes, the remaining forests still face threats from illegal logging even in protected areas and land cleared for agriculture and cattle pasture in unprotected areas. Corruption exists in Costa Rica, but this problem is much lower than in many other Latin American countries.

Decentralization efforts

One of Costa Rica's many national parks to protect biodiversity and habitat loss, Tortuguero National Park. Tortuguero Nationalpark.jpg
One of Costa Rica's many national parks to protect biodiversity and habitat loss, Tortuguero National Park.

Decentralized decision-making is being practiced in Costa Rica to improve protected area management and biodiversity conservation. Costa Rica stands out among all developing tropical countries for its commitment toward environmental and natural resources issues. The central government has developed a protected area system that has given some kind of protected status to 25% of its national territory. [16] In the mid-nineties the Costa Rican government started to decentralize management and decision-making of all protected areas in the country to promote locally based biodiversity conservation governance. All protected areas were grouped in eleven regionally based administrative units and were labeled as conservation areas. The central government gave each conservation area the authority to exercise significant degrees of autonomy to design and implement policy for the management of the protected areas under their jurisdiction. [16] [17]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation</span> Conversion of forest to non-forest for human use

Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated deforestation occurs in tropical rainforests. About 31% of Earth's land surface is covered by forests at present. This is one-third less than the forest cover before the expansion of agriculture, with half of that loss occurring in the last century. Between 15 million to 18 million hectares of forest, an area the size of Bangladesh, are destroyed every year. On average 2,400 trees are cut down each minute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reforestation</span> Land regeneration method (replacement of trees)

Reforestation is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation but also after clearcutting. Two important purposes of reforestation programs are for harvesting of wood or for climate change mitigation purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Costa Rica</span> Wildlife in Costa Rica

The wildlife of Costa Rica comprises all naturally occurring animals, fungi and plants that reside in this Central American country. Costa Rica supports an enormous variety of wildlife, due in large part to its geographic position between North and South America, its neotropical climate, and its wide variety of habitats. Costa Rica is home to more than 500,000 species, which represent nearly 5% of the species estimated worldwide, making Costa Rica one of the 20 countries with the highest biodiversity in the world. Of these 500,000 species, a little more than 300,000 are insects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corcovado National Park</span> National park in Costa Rica

Corcovado National Park is a National Park on the Osa Peninsula, in Osa Canton, located on the southwestern regions of Costa Rica, which is a part of the Osa Conservation Area. Corcovado National Park was established in October 24 1975 and occupies an area of 424 square kilometres (164 sq mi). It is currently the largest park in Costa Rica and extends over about a third of the Osa Peninsula.

Environmental issues in Bolivia include deforestation caused by commercial agriculture, urbanization, and illegal logging, and biodiversity loss attributed to illegal wildlife trade, climate change, deforestation, and habitat destruction. Since 1990, Bolivia has experienced rapid urbanization raising concerns about air quality and water pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Thailand</span> Overview of the history and state of Thailands forests

Deforestation in Thailand refers to the conversion of its forested land to other uses. Deforestation numbers are inexact due to the scope of the issue. According to the Royal Forest Department (RFD) in 2019, Thai forests cover 31.6% of Thailand's landmass. The department claims that forest coverage grew by 330,000 rai in 2018, an area equivalent in size to the island of Phuket. A year earlier, an academic claimed that, since 2016, forested area has declined by 18,000 rai, a significant improvement over the period 2008–2013, when a forested million rai were lost each year. In 1975, the government set a goal of 40% forest coverage—25% natural forest and 15% commercial forest—within 20 years. To achieve that target in 2018, 27 million rai would have to be afforested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Cambodia</span>

Deforestation in Cambodia has increased in recent years. Cambodia is one of the world's most forest endowed countries, that was not historically widely deforested. However, massive deforestation for economic development threatens its forests and ecosystems. As of 2015, the country has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Brazil</span>

Brazil once had the highest deforestation rate in the world and in 2005 still had the largest area of forest removed annually. Since 1970, over 700,000 square kilometres (270,000 sq mi) of the Amazon rainforest have been destroyed. In 2001, the Amazon was approximately 5,400,000 square kilometres (2,100,000 sq mi), which is only 87% of the Amazon's original size. According to official data, about 729,000 km² have already been deforested in the Amazon biome, which corresponds to 17% of the total. 300,000 km² have been deforested in the last 20 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Payment for ecosystem services</span>

Payments for ecosystem services (PES), also known as payments for environmental services, are incentives offered to farmers or landowners in exchange for managing their land to provide some sort of ecological service. They have been defined as "a transparent system for the additional provision of environmental services through conditional payments to voluntary providers". These programmes promote the conservation of natural resources in the marketplace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Sri Lanka</span>

Deforestation is one of the most serious environmental issues in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka's current forest cover as of 2017 was 29.7%. In the 1920s, the island had a 49 percent forest cover but by 2005 this had fallen by approximately 26 percent. Between 1990 and 2000, Sri Lanka lost an average of 26,800 ha of forests per year. This amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 1.14%. Between 2000 and 2005 the rate accelerated to 1.43% per annum. However, with a long history of policy and laws towards environmental protection, deforestation rates of primary cover have decreased 35% since the end of the 1990s thanks to a strong history of conservation measures. The problem of deforestation in Sri Lanka is not as significant in the southern mountainous regions as it is in northern and lowland southern Sri Lanka, largely due to the nature of environmental protection.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation by continent</span> Removal of forests worldwide

Rates and causes of deforestation vary from region to region around the world. In 2009, two-thirds of the world's forests were located in just 10 countries: Russia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, China, Australia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, India, and Peru.

Even though progress has been made in conserving Brazil’s landscapes, the country still faces serious threats due to its historical land use. Amazonian forests substantially influence regional and global climates and deforesting this region is both a regional and global driver of climate change due to the high amounts of deforestation and habitat fragmentation that have occurred this region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Central America</span> Loss of forest biome in the Americas

Central American countries have experienced cycles of deforestation and reforestation since the decline of Maya civilization, influenced by many factors such as population growth, agriculture, narcotic distribution and illegal practices. From 2001 to 2010, 5,376 square kilometres (2,076 sq mi) of forest were lost in the region. In 2010 Belize had 63% of remaining forest cover, Costa Rica 46%, Panama 45%, Honduras 41%, Guatemala 37%, Nicaragua 29%, and El Salvador 21%. Most of the loss occurred in the moist forest biome, with 12,201 square kilometers. Woody vegetation loss was partially set off by a plus in the coniferous forest biome with 4,730 km2, and at 2,054 km2. Mangroves and deserts contributed only 1% to the loss in forest vegetation. The bulk of the deforestation was located at the Caribbean slopes of Nicaragua with a minus of 8,574 square kilometers of forest lost in the period from 2001 to 2010. The most significant regrowth of 3,050 km2 of forest was seen in the coniferous woody vegetation of Honduras.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afforestation in Japan</span> Projects to plant native tree species in open areas

The Japanese temperate rainforest is well sustained and maintains a high biodiversity. One method that has been utilized in maintaining the health of forests in Japan has been afforestation. The Japanese government and private businesses have set up multiple projects to plant native tree species in open areas scattered throughout the country. This practice has resulted in shifts in forest structure and a healthy temperate rainforest that maintains a high biodiversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation in Nepal</span> Conversion of forest to non-forest for human use in Nepal

Deforestation in Nepal has always been a serious issue, which has a severe effect on the lives of poor people. In the past, Nepal was a widely forested nation. However now with the requirement for the extension of rural areas, migration of hills people to the plains, the developing regional interest for timber, and the local residents dependence on firewood as the essential source of energy, less than 30% of the nation's forest cover remains. Due to the continuous deforestation in Nepal, many people and creatures are dying. Around 70 percent of the people in Nepal work in agriculture, even if it is difficult to farm in the prevailing unfavourable weather conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation and climate change</span> Relationship between deforestation and global warming

Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change, and climate change affects forests. Land use changes, especially in the form of deforestation, are the second largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, after fossil fuel combustion. Greenhouse gases are emitted during combustion of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon. Global models and national greenhouse gas inventories give similar results for deforestation emissions. As of 2019, deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation are accelerating. Growing forests are a carbon sink with additional potential to mitigate the effects of climate change. Some of the effects of climate change, such as more wildfires, insect outbreaks, invasive species, and storms are factors that increase deforestation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbon farming</span> Agricultural methods that capture carbon

Carbon farming is a name for a variety of agricultural methods aimed at sequestering atmospheric carbon into the soil and in crop roots, wood and leaves. The aim of carbon farming is to increase the rate at which carbon is sequestered into soil and plant material with the goal of creating a net loss of carbon from the atmosphere. Increasing a soil's organic matter content can aid plant growth, increase total carbon content, improve soil water retention capacity and reduce fertilizer use. Carbon farming is one component of climate-smart agriculture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservation in Costa Rica</span>

Although the conservation movement developed in Europe in the 18th century, Costa Rica as a country has been heralded its champion in the current times. Costa Rica hosts an astonishing number of species, given its size, having more animal and plant species than the US and Canada combined while being only 250 miles long and 150 miles wide. A widely accepted theory for the origin of this unusual density of species is the free mixing of species from both North and South America occurring on this "inter-oceanic" and "inter-continental" landscape. Preserving the natural environment of this fragile landscape, therefore, has drawn the attention of many international scholars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reforestation in Costa Rica</span> Conservation program

Reforestation efforts are being made in Costa Rica to recondition its biodiversity and ecosystems that were affected by heavy deforestation in the 1900s.

Alvaro Umaña-Quesada, born 1951 or 1952, is a Costa Rican academic, environmentalist, and politician who served as Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines from 1986 to 1990. He is credited for pursuing successful environmental policies which promoted conservation and reversed the country's high deforestation rates. He stars in the film, Paved Paradise, released in the Netherlands in 2023.

References

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  2. 1 2 Nygren, Anja (1995-01-01). "Deforestation in Costa Rica: An Examination of Social and Historical Factors". Forest and Conservation History. 39 (1): 27–35. doi:10.2307/3983623. ISSN   1046-7009. JSTOR   3983623. S2CID   130387537.
  3. ↑ Sader, Steven A.; Joyce, Armond T. (1988). "Deforestation Rates and Trends in Costa Rica, 1940 to 1983". Biotropica. 20 (1): 11–19. doi:10.2307/2388421. ISSN   0006-3606. JSTOR   2388421.
  4. ↑ Stan, Kayla; Sanchez-Azofeifa, Arturo (2019). "Deforestation and secondary growth in Costa Rica along the path of development". Regional Environmental Change. 19 (2): 587–597. doi:10.1007/s10113-018-1432-5. S2CID   158074051.
  5. 1 2 3 Martin, Anne (2017-04-14). "Reforesting the Land in Costa Rica and Rethinking Grazing". Exploring Green. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  6. 1 2 Rosero-Bixby, Luis (1998). Population and Environment. 20 (2): 149–185. doi:10.1023/A:1023319327838. S2CID   152729531.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ Horton, Lynn R. (2009). "Buying Up Nature: Economic and Social Impacts of Costa Rica's Ecotourism Boom". Latin American Perspectives. 36 (3): 93–107. doi:10.1177/0094582X09334299. S2CID   220913637.
  8. 1 2 Vignola, R.; Klinsky, S.; Tam, J.; McDaniels, T. (2013). "Public perception, knowledge and policy support for mitigation and adaption to Climate Change in Costa Rica: Comparisons with North American and European studies". Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. 18 (3): 303–323. doi:10.1007/s11027-012-9364-8. S2CID   154124840.
  9. ↑ "Tendencia Historica de Deforestacion en Costa Rica". Sistema de Informacion de los Recursos Forestales de Costa Rica. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  10. 1 2 "How Costa Rica Reversed Deforestation and Became an Environmental Model". Earth.Org - Past | Present | Future. 2021-10-19. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  11. 1 2 3 Lewis, Nell (2020-07-27). "This country regrew its lost forest. Can the world learn from it?". CNN. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  12. 1 2 3 "Payments for Environmental Services Program | Costa Rica". unfccc.int. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  13. 1 2 Bosselmann, Aske Skovmand; Lund, Jens Friis (2013-10-01). "Do intermediary institutions promote inclusiveness in PES programs? The case of Costa Rica". Geoforum. 49: 50–60. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.05.009. ISSN   0016-7185.
  14. ↑ "National Bamboo Project - Costa Rica". International Network for Bamboo and Rattan. Archived from the original on 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  15. ↑ "Deforestation-Reforestation". Discovery Travel World. Archived from the original on 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
  16. 1 2 Basurto, Xavier. "Taking a Comparative and Longitudinal View of Cross-Scale Linkages: The Decentralization of Biodiversity Governance in Costa Rica." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Hyatt Regency Chicago and the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers, Chicago, IL, Aug 30, 2007. 2009-05-27.
  17. ↑ Ferroukhi, Lyès, and Alejandra A. Schramm. "Progress and challenges of municipal forest management in Costa Rica." Archived 2010-08-08 at the Wayback Machine The International Development Research Centre, 2003. Web. 15 Oct. 2009.
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