| Costa Rica | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Location | Middle America, bordereing both the Carribean Sea and the North Pacific Ocean | ||||||||||||||||||
| National websites | |||||||||||||||||||
| Embassy / Chancery in U.S. | www.costarica.com/embassy/ 2114 S. Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20008 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Agencies responsible for biological inventory and conservation | Ministry
of the Environment and Energy (MINAE)
www.minae.go.cr/ National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) www.minae.go.cr/areas/sinac.htm |
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| Non-governmental organizations concerned with conservation | National
Institute of Investigation and Forestal Services, National University
Apartado 86-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica, A.C. www.una.ac.cr/inis/ Earth Council
inBio
CaoBio
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| Major Natural Resources | Costa
Rica has an amount of plant and animal species that makes up approximately
4% of the worlds' species. Because of this fact alone it is obvious
that this country has vast amounts of natural resources. Forests
are harvested for a variety of uses, and are considered to be one of the
main natural
resources for the country. The flora and fauna of this county have not even been fully catalogued. There are 505,660 species estimated, 84,392 of which have been described. National Park areas have been designated, and their care and growth is an expanding issue at this time. Source: Ministry of the Environment and Energy |
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| Major Environmental and Conservation Issues | Although there have been several developments moving towards conservation, it has one of the highest deforestation rates in Central America. In 1954, 80% of the country was forest area. Today, only 25% of the country is forest. Fortunately, all of this remaining forest land is in National Parks and Preserves. On the down-side of this fact, eco-tourism brings 20,000 tourists into the 26,000 acre forest each year, driving species such as the Quetzal deeper into the forest. Also, mining has become a concern because the habitat is destroyed by the mining process. Cattle-grazing is another concern, as it leaves the land much more open and susceptible to soil erosion. Source: LA Times, InBio & WRI | ||||||||||||||||||
| Statistics | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Land area | 51,100 (Sq. km) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Area of forest | 1,456 (ha) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Area of wetlands | (Sq. km) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Area of territorial waters | 440 (Sq. km) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Population: 3,604,642 | Density: | ( 70.54 /Sq. km) | |||||||||||||||||
| Area protected (ha) (only areas >1000ha) at all IUCN levels: 638,564 | Fraction of land area protected (%): 12% | ||||||||||||||||||
| Major Protected Areas | EITHER
OR: Search by Country (Information Center for the Environment) OR: |
Information Center for the Environment | |||||||||||||||||
| Endemic Species |
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| Endangered, Threatened and Vulnerable Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Extinct Species |
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World Conservation Monitoring Centre - Animal | |||||||||||||||||
| Species listed on CITES Appendices | CITES-listed Species Database | ||||||||||||||||||
| Legislation | |||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered or threatened species | COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF ALL TREATIES SIGNED AND DATE OF INTRODUCTION | ||||||||||||||||||
| Laws protecting endangered ecosystems | |||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to CITES | 03 March 1973 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Ramsar Wetlands Convention | 02 February 1971 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Convention on Biological Diversity | 13 June 1992 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to Migratory Bird Treaty | (date) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Member of International Whaling Commission | yes | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signatory to other international treaties designed to protect or manage biological resources | 24 October 1940 - Convention
on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation
28 April 1952 - International Plant Protection Convention 29 December 1972 - Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 24 July 1981 - International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling **comprehensive list can be found at sedac.ciesin.org/pidb/pid b-home.html#bqs |
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| Natural Resource Use | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fisheries | Costa Rica produces 2,255 metric tons of freshwater fish per year. This is a 331% increase from the ten years ago. 1,510 of these metric tons are produced from aquaculture. | data.wri.org:1996/ | |||||||||||||||||
| Forestry / deforestation | 43.8% of the forests in Costa Rica are Rainforests. The remaning 56.2% is Hillandmontane. Deforestation is a concern in Costa Rica, due to the demand for grazing land by cattle ranchers as well as agricultural demands on land. Roundwood production 4,201 cubic meters, 76.4% of which is used as fuel & charcoal. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ecotourism | |||||||||||||||||||
| Trade in wildlife products | |||||||||||||||||||
| Hunting | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other uses of natural resources | Mining poses a threat to the ecosystem as the presence of mineable material is an exploited natural resource which destroys native habitat | ||||||||||||||||||
| Human Impacts on Natural Resources | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Air pollution | |||||||||||||||||||
| Water pollution | |||||||||||||||||||
| Development activities | |||||||||||||||||||
| Introduced species | |||||||||||||||||||
| Legislation addressing these issues | |||||||||||||||||||
| Restoration and Reintroduction | Information Sources | ||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for restoration of damaged habitat | |||||||||||||||||||
| Programs for ex situ conservation (captive breeding and reintroduction) of endangered species | |||||||||||||||||||
Return to Endangered Species Protection around the World
Page compiled by Daniel Michael Evans as part of a class project in h90 "The Science of Biodiversity and Conservation" (Peter J. Bryant, Instructor), University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA