An Introduction to Environmental
Issues in Costa Rica
Martin L. Cipollini, PhD.
Berry College
Costa Rica Biodiversity: The Things We
Like to Talk about
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Only the size of West Virginia, yet harbors*:
12,000 species of plants
1,239 species of butterflies
838 species of birds
440 species of reptiles and amphibians
232 species of mammals
And probably 500,000 species of arthropods (insects, spiders,
etc.) !
* http://rainforests.mongabay.com/20costarica.htm
Costa Rica Biodiversity: The Things We
Like to Talk about
• 20 "life zones“ including beaches and mangroves, lowland rainforests,
cloud forests, dry deciduous forests, and paramo.
• Its location just 8 – 11oN of the equator makes seasonality important
only via pronounced wet and dry seasons in the Pacific NW.
• Distinct marine and freshwater organisms emanate from both the
Pacific and Caribbean shores.
• Its altitude ranges from 0 to 3,819 meters, creating an incredibly varied
set of environmental conditions in a small place.
• The narrow isthmus between North and South America promotes a
mixing of biotas that evolved in either location.
• The tropics are the evolutionary “source”
of many unique organism groups
(e.g., new world monkeys).
Costa Rica Biodiversity
• Conservation programs:
• Roughly 18 percent of the country is in national parks and
another 13 percent is in privately owned preserves. More
land in some form of protection than in any other country.
• Areas targeted for protection have high biodiversity and
possible connections (corridors) to other preserved zones.
• Private conservation is encouraged by
forest protection certificates which
annually pay landowners about $50
per hectare (2.5 acres).
• Around 2/3 of Costa Rica's
remaining rainforests are protected.
Some Other Things We Like to Talk
About…
• Happy Planet Index listed the Costa Ricans (affectionately called
“Ticos”) as the happiest people on earth!
• Costa Rica has had no army since 1945, thus can use savings on
social and other programs.
• Life expectancy is higher and childhood mortality lower than in the
U.S. Second only to Canada in life expectancy in the Americas.
• US spends about 10 X more money on
health care, yet ranks below Costa Rica in
overall health status according to WHO.
• Ranked first in the Americas (#3 in the
world) in UN Environmental Performance
Index.
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http://www.happyplanetindex.org/news/archive/news-2.html
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/country-health-profile/costa-rica
http://epi.yale.edu/
Global Environmental Trends: The
Things We Don’t Like to Talk About
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a) Population growth
b) Species extinction
c) Deforestation
d) Destruction of wetlands
e) Desertification
f) Soil erosion
g) Soil salinization
h) Farmland conversion
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i) Groundwater contamination
j) Groundwater depletion
k) Declining oil supplies
l) Declining mineral supplies
m) Surface water shortages
n) Global climate change
o) Acid deposition
p) Ozone depletion
• All of these major environmental trends (except perhaps for “o”
and “p”) are problems in Costa Rica, at least in some regions of the
country.
Some Solutions: The Things We Like to
Talk About (Reprised)
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Sustainable forestry/reforestation programs
Sustainable agriculture programs
Ecotourism and private reserves
Green labeling programs: Tourism
Green labeling programs: Certified Forestry
Carbon or “ecosystem services” reserves
Debt for nature swaps
Valuation of natural biological resources
In general: “Sustainable” development.
Some Solutions: Sustainable Forestry
• Sustainable forest development programs: an example.
• FUNDECOR* (Foresta Project of the Foundation for the
Development of the Central Volcanic Mountain Range) has
developed forest management programs for landowners
across more than 13,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of forest.
• Sustainable harvesting results in
greater long-term economic gains
for landowners, while reducing the
long-term damage to their forests.
* http://www.fundecortechnology.org/fundecor/Inicio.html
Some Solutions: Sustainable Agriculture
Industrial agriculture is still the norm, and uses high amounts of fuel,
chemicals, and water to achieve high yields (rice, sugar cane, coffee, bananas,
pineapple, beef).
• Large international corporations historically monopolized Costa Rican
agriculture (e.g., United Fruit, Chiquita, Dole).
• Sustainable agriculture* attempts to lower inputs while accepting lower short
term yields and lowering the unsustainable side effects of industrial
agriculture (pollution, fuel use, water
depletion, etc.)
• An example. EARTH University’s La Flor**
sustainable agriculture program in the
Guanacaste area (mango, citris, sugar
cane, cattle).
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* http://agriculture.mitrasites.com/sustainable-agriculture-in-costa-rica.html
** http://www.earth.ac.cr/ing/info_general_laflor.php
Some Solutions: Ecotourism
• Eco-tourism (tourism dependent upon natural areas or
specific species) has become an important source of revenue.
• Tourism of any kind has negative impacts on the environment
(habitat loss, water use and pollution, fuel consumption).
• A healthy ecotourism industry shows that economic wellbeing can be compatible with environmental protection.
• Costa Rica’s advantage was its foresight in preserving and
protecting large areas of land for multiple uses. Private land
holdings are often too small and disconnected to have a large
impact on biodiversity or to provide “ecosystem services”
(e.g., protection of clean water).
• Costa Rica is divided into geographical units called
“Conservation Areas”* with programs in each area for
economic development, agricultural/forestry development,
and environmental protection.
* http://www.sinac.go.cr/principal.php
Some Solutions: Green Labeling
• The tourism board (ICT) issues Certificates of Sustainable
Tourism* in response to “green washing” (abusing terms such
as “environmental”, “eco-” or “sustainable”)
• Blue Flags designate clean beaches and Green Leaves
designate eco-friendly properties.
• The survey favors large businesses, fails to fully credit small,
environmentally conscious establishments, and does not give
special consideration for those with nature reserves. As a
result, many small “eco-lodges” don’t make the list.
• The system nevertheless helps
travelers choose larger hotels that
are at least attempting to follow
ecologically friendly practices.
* http://www.turismo- sostenible.co.cr
Some Solutions: Green Labeling
DEGREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF TIMBER CERTIFICATION
Category
Knew about
certification
Did not know about
certification
Consumers
0
100
Sawmill owners
11
89
Forest owners
17
83
Gov’t officials
85
15
Environmental NGOs 89
11
http://www.ulb.ac.be/assoc/iff/section1/otherlinks/ecovervr2.PDF
Some Solutions: Green Labeling
Willingness to Pay Higher Prices for Certified Forest Products
Category
Willing to pay for product Not willing to pay for
or for certification
product or for certification
Consumers
90
10
Sawmill owners
86
14
Forest owners
50
50
Gov’t officials*
40
60
Environmental NGOs*
22
78
* Survey results reflected a distrust of international certification guidelines applied
to local situations.
http://www.ulb.ac.be/assoc/iff/section1/otherlinks/ecovervr2.PDF
Some Solutions: Carbon Reserves
• In 2005, Costa Rica joined a coalition of developing countries that
proposed a "rainforest conservation for emissions" deal at the UN summit
on climate change in Montreal.
• The plan calls for wealthy nations to compensate poor nations for
rainforest conservation.
• Costa Rica already had a similar program in place which protected
rainforest by selling allowances to emit greenhouses gases. Watershed
reserves are also common.
• Through programs such as this, Costa Rica is nearing its goal of becoming
the first “carbon-neutral” nation, benefitted by the fact that much of its
energy needs are met via hydroelectric, geothermal, and wind resources.*
*http://internationalliving.com/2010/07/26-costa-rica-nears-carbon-neutral-goal/
Some Solutions: Debt for Nature Swaps
• Debt for Nature swaps are agreements among governments and
environmental NGOs to pay down debts of debtor nations, in
exchange for an agreement to use money saved for conservation.
• Example: As part of the U.S. Tropical Forest Conversation Act (USTFCA), the U.S. is spending $12.6 million to buy back about $26
million of Costa Rica's debt .* Conservation International and The
Nature Conservancy are each contributing $1.26 million.
• Over 16 years, Costa Rica must spend the money on forest
conservation on the Osa Peninsula (home to Corcovado National
Park) and in Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean.
• Since 1998, US-TFCA has provided about $135 million to 11
countries, including Guatemala, Panama, El Salvador, the
Philippines and Bangladesh.
* For related info see: http://www.nature.org/newsfeatures/magazine/forever-costa-rica-1.xml
Some Solutions: Valuation of Biological
Resources
• Example: INBIO (National Biodiversity Institute): a nongovernmental, non-profit, public interest organization
• Established in 1989 to gather knowledge on the country’s
biodiversity and to promote its sustainable use.
• Works under the premise that the best way to conserve biodiversity
is to study it, value it, and utilize the opportunities it offers to
improve the quality of life of human beings.
• Works in close collaboration with government institutions,
universities, the private sector and other public and private
organizations.
• Includes the world’s first “Biodiversity Park”- INBIOparque in Santo
Domingo de Heredia.
*http://www.inbio.ac.cr/en/default.html
Some Solutions: INBIO
• Inventory and Monitoring: Generates data on the diversity of Costa Rica’s
species and ecosystems. Collection includes more than 3 million organisms.
• Conservation: Uses data to help make decisions related to the protection
and sustainable use of biodiversity, by both public (e.g. National
Conservation Areas) and private sectors.
• Communications and education: Primarily via INBIOparque, shares
information about biodiversity with the public, with the aim of creating
greater awareness of its value.
• Biodiversity informatics: Develops computer tools to generate, administer,
analyze and disseminate data on biodiversity through its “Atta” database.
• Bio-prospecting: Seeks commercial applications for biological resources.
Has pioneered agreements to study chemicals, genes, etc., in plants and
other organisms for possible pharmaceutical, medical, biotechnological,
cosmetic, food and agricultural uses.
A Caveat: What Permits “Sustainable
Development”?
• Sustainable development is often described as “meeting the
needs of the present without compromising the needs of the
future”
• A common model of sustainable development is that of the
three-legged stool, with Economics, Environment, and Social
Justice comprising the three legs.
• Unless the three “legs” are balanced, the stool topples and
falls (is “unsustainable”)
• Problem with this model is that it fails to recognize that a
healthy, productive environment is the SOURCE of economic
gain and social welfare.*
*See Dawe and Ryan http://www.tropical.umn.edu/TTM/Speakers/Handouts/Three-Legged-Stool.pdf
Sustainable Development: Is this the
right model?