How Has Deforestation In Costa Rica Affected The Animals

Costa rica

Costa rica Forest Figures

Forest Cover

Total forest surface area: two,391,000 ha
% of land surface area: 46.eight%

Master wood cover: 180,000 ha
% of land expanse: 3.5%
% total woods area: 7.5%

Deforestation Rates, 2000-2005

Annual change in forest encompass: 3,000 ha
Almanac deforestation rate: 0.i%
Alter in defor. rate since '90s: -117.2%
Total forest loss since 1990: -173,000 ha
Total forest loss since 1990:-half dozen.7%

Primary or "Onetime-growth" forests
Annual loss of main forests: north/a
Almanac deforestation rate: due north/a
Change in deforestation rate since '90s: -100.0%
Primary forest loss since 1990: n/a
Main woods loss since 1990:-29.4%

Forest Classification

Public: 24.iii%
Private: 75.vii%
Other: north/a
Use
Production: 0.ane%
Protection: 1.9%
Conservation: 24.five%
Social services: n/a
Multiple purpose: 73.5%
None or unknown: due north/a

Forest Area Breakdown

Total surface area: 2,391,000 ha
Main: 180,000 ha
Modified natural: 1,319,000 ha
Semi-natural: 888,000 ha
Production plantation: 1,000 ha
Product plantation: 3,000 ha

Plantations

Plantations, 2005: iv,000 ha
% of total forest cover: 0.2%
Annual change rate (00-05): 200,000 ha

Carbon storage

Above-ground biomass: 224 M t
Below-ground biomass: 161 Yard t

Area annually affected by

Fire: 6,000 ha
Insects: north/a
Diseases: due north/a

Number of tree species in IUCN blood-red list

Number of native tree species: 117
Critically endangered: 4
Endangered: 33
Vulnerable: 74

Wood removal 2005

Industrial roundwood: 1,932,000 m³ o.b.
Woods fuel: 468,000 m^three o.b.

Value of woods products, 2005

Industrial roundwood: $122,122,000
Wood fuel: n/a
Not-forest forest products (NWFPs): northward/a
Full Value: $122,122,000

More forest statistics for Costa Rica

The Central American state of Republic of costa rica, despite its pocket-sized size, has high levels of biological diverseness with some 12,000 species of plants, ane,239 species of butterflies, 838 species of birds, 440 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 232 species of mammals. Costa rica has an ambitious conservation program, perchance one of the nearly developed among tropical rainforest countries, that protects more than than x percent of the land. Ane protected strip of forest runs uninterrupted for 40 miles through nine ecological zones from ocean level to 12,500 feet. In 1995, the authorities presented a plan to protect eighteen percentage of the state in national parks and another 13 percentage in privately owned preserves. Areas targeted for protection are those with loftier biodiversity. The government funds the project by issuing landowners forest protection certificates which will annually pay landowners well-nigh $50 for every forest hectare (2.5 acres), with the understanding that the forest volition be protected. Around two-thirds of Costa rica'due south remaining rainforests are protected.

Costa Rica has initiated numerous inventive programs to promote sustainable development. 1 such project, organized by FUNDECOR (Foresta Project of the Foundation for the Development of the Central Volcanic Mount Range), works to sustainably manage more than than xiii,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of wood by developing wood management plans for landowners. Not simply do the landowners end upwardly with more than money in their pockets, but operations also exercise less impairment to the forest as they remove valuable trees.

Eco-tourism has become one of the almost important sources of revenue for Costa Rica. The land is considered an platonic introduction to the rainforests for its biodiversity, its excellent and accessible parks system, and its relative prophylactic for tourists. In some areas, tourism has proved a little likewise much for the surroundings and some parks now have restrictions on the number of visitors allowed at whatsoever given time. Further, the structure of hotels in some locations has proved ecologically controversial. Still, Costa rica serves as a prime number example to other developing countries that economical well-being is compatible with forest preservation.

Costa Rica is looking to capitalize on its forests in ways other than eco-tourism. In 2005, Republic of costa rica joined a coalition of tropical developing countries that proposed a "rainforest conservation for emissions" bargain at the December United Nations summit on climate change in Montreal. The programme, which was accepted by the United nations, called for wealthy nations to compensate poor nations for rainforest conservation. Republic of costa rica already had a like plan in identify which protected rainforest past selling allowances to emit greenhouses gases. In 1999, the plan generated some $20 million.

Despite its ecology rhetoric and conservation legislation, Costa rica has a poor track record when information technology comes to deforestation. In the early 1990s, the country had one of the worst deforestation rates in Latin America. Republic of costa rica was once 99 percent forested, but wood comprehend has steadily diminished from 85 percent in 1940 to around 35 percent today co-ordinate to the FAO's State of the World's Forests (FAO'southward Wood Resources Assessment says the current embrace is closer to 50 percentage). Historically, clearing for agronomics (by and large java and bananas) and cattle pastures has been the largest contributor to Costa Rica'due south rainforest devastation. During the 1970s and early 1980s, vast stretches of rainforest were burned and converted into cattle lands, merely when the largest importer of Central American beef, the United States, ceased beef imports, Costa rica was left with millions of acres of cleared state and a lot of cattle.

Today, while deforestation rates of natural forest have dropped considerably, Costa Rica'south remaining forests still face threats from illegal timber harvesting in protected areas and conversion for agronomics and cattle pasture in unprotected zones. The popularity of Costa rica as an eco-tourist destination makes parks a source of income rather than an expense, and by governments have been known to use park funds for making up budget shortfalls instead of maintaining protected areas. Corruption remains a problem in Costa Rica, though not as much as in nearby countries.

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Suggested reading - Books

National Geographic Traveler: Costa Rica
A Guide to the Birds of Costa rica
Field Guide to the Wild fauna of Republic of costa rica
Costa Rican Wildlife: An Introduction to Familiar Species
Exploring Costa rica 2006
Costa rica (Traveller's Wildlife Guides)
Moon Handbooks Costa Rica
Monkeys Are Made of Chocolate: Exotic and Unseen Costa rica
Costa Rica (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
Costa rica's National Parks and Preserves: A Visitor'southward Guide, Second Edition
Fodor'south Costa rica 2006
A Field Guide to the Mammals of Cardinal America and Southeast Mexico
The Natural History of Costa Rican Mammals
Amphibians and Reptiles of La Selva, Costa rica, and the Caribbean Slope: A Comprehensive Guide
Guide to Costa Rican Spanish
Costa Rica For Dummies
Waterproof Republic of costa rica Map
Frommer's Costa Rica
Lonely Planet Costa Rica
Republic of costa rica: The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide
A Guide to Amphibians and Reptiles of Republic of costa rica
Tropical Nature: Life and Decease in the Rain Forests of Central and Due south America
A Neotropical Companion