In the 70s and 80s, Costa Rica had the highest rates of deforestation in Latin America, but the following decades saw a true revolution.
The country has been able to stop its deforestation, begin replanting and conservation efforts and regrow almost all the cover of trees it had lost.
I Costa Rican methods they created the most successful forest management model on the planet.
Leader in the fight against deforestation
Costa Rica's success story in the field of sustainable forestry has been strengthened by a forest assessment strategy by paying for their restoration, by investing in environmental services.
In the 40s, 75% of the country was shrouded in rainforest and mangroves. But in the following 40 years, as many as half of all trees were cut down. An environmental drama, to the point that strong deforestation bans were instituted in 1996, with the arrival of PES programs (funds for environmental services) the following year.
The forest? A public utility company
Applying simple economic rules, the forest is considered a company providing public services. As such, any company that has benefited from resources or processes provided by the forest must “pay the forest” for what it receives. Likewise, anyone who allows the forest to thrive receives financial compensation.
Example: does a group of old trees grow on the land of a farmer who could cut them and plant cocoa, coffee, bananas or other tropical agricultural products? The farmer receives money from a fund that businesses and citizens pay to be able to afford to keep the forest intact.
The rescue
Now 60% of the country is once again wooded and each year Costa Rica raises approximately $ 33 million which it uses to make sure that forests affecting privately owned land are treated. Over the past 20 years, $ 500 million has been paid to landowners and farmers. Deforestation was reversed by managing 1 million hectares of rainforest. Above all, by encouraging the plantation of 7 million new trees.
A society in balance with the Earth
“People in Costa Rica get a lot of money from tourism and that changes incentives for land use,” he said to CNN Juan Robalino, environmental economics expert at the University of Costa Rica.
How?
Almost three million tourists come to see the country's national parks and other protected areas each year. Green areas again vast and luxuriant, which today cover a quarter of the nation and are home to half a million documented species of plants and insects. Among them iconic animals such as the sloth, or like the spectacular green parrots.
This year, fewer funds are expected due to reduced tourism due to Covid-19, but deforestation will not return. Employing 200.000 people last year the tourism sector it generated $ 4 billion in revenue, including those from luxury beach resorts and small agritourism areas. Many companies of this type have taken advantage of the opportunity of environmental services funds to build nature-friendly farms. Places open to the public that are home to native trees, benefit from wild agricultural products and provide shelter for animals.
A model to export to the world
Costa Rica's Environmental Service Funds system has been adopted by other countries around the world. One of these, Rwanda, signed a memorandum of understanding in 2019 with Costa Rica to stop deforestation and restore its natural forest ecosystems.
Heart and money
We have learned that the pocket is the fastest way to get to the heart
Carlos Manuel Rodriguez, Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica.
Destroy deforestation
Rodríguez has summarized a formidable intuition: attributing an economic equivalent to the natural world is not in itself incorrect. It is the use that is made of this evaluation that makes the difference.
