By Monika Buczak
Sterling Evans dubbed Costa Rica the “Green Republic” in his history of Costa Rican conservation. Over 25% of Costa Rica’s land is under protection either in national parks or in private reserves such as the Children’s Eternal Rainforest. The country has had the unique ability to “lure a significant number of foreign scientists and to establish a sound training system for local scientists to study and understand the nation’s diverse natural history.”
Now a hub for ecotourism, Costa Rica is known for its incredible biological diversity. It only covers about 0.03% of the global surface, but is home to about 5% of the world’s species! Thankfully, foreign scientists and domestic researchers alike recognized the wonderfully rich natural history and biological significance of the country. The earliest calls for conservation in Costa Rica came in the 1770’s and 1830’s, but there was no significant support base until the end of 19th century. As with the rest of the world, the strongest and most widespread conservation policies began in the mid to late 20th century.
Historically, Costa Rica was ignored by the colonial governing body because of its particular difficult terrain. The indigenous people burned small patches of forest that they required to sustain their own families. By the time Costa Rica gained independence from Spain in 1821, it was one of the least developed and therefore poorest areas of the United Provinces of Central America. After it separated from the United Provinces, Costa Rica’s population was too small to support a network of higher education. A lack of national scientific and professional training, hospitals, universities, and bookstores was evident until 1845.
A fascination with silver and gold persisted, and European naturalists had more interests in Mexico, Peru, and other geologically rich countries. During this time, there wasn’t much widespread deforestation. The few Europeans who had come to Costa Rica by this time did, however, consider local farming methods inferior, and they began to deforest more of the land. This impact was fairly insignificant compared to the changes made in more populated and less isolated areas in the Americas.
Interest in Costa Rica quickly turned around, for two reasons. First, the possibility of a trans-isthmus canal in southern Central America was a popular idea, with Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama as the most likely locations. The second reason interest in skyrocketed was the discovery of its new claim to fame: coffee.
Coffee grows incredibly well in certain parts of the country, and, as a result, slopes were cleared for large-scale farming. Large-scale landowners and exporters became a new and prominent part of Costa Rica’s economic and political landscape. New railroads opened up the previously difficult terrain, and foreign interest was on the rise. The European entrepreneurs who soon came to stay brought with them better schools, fine arts, and communications. European naturalists also became intrigued with this small country, came to study, and usually stayed. German naturalists Moritz Wagner and Karl Scherzer wrote “Die Republik Costa Rica” which played a major role in attracting other foreign naturalists and led to a period of great research and publication about Costa Rica.
Costa Rica exported its first coffee in 1820. In 1845, Costa Rica began exporting coffee to Great Britain, and for 40 years, coffee was practically the country’s only export. At the end of the 19th century, the banana industry also took off. Unlike the coffee industry, banana production requires large, capital-intensive labor and infrastructure. This discouraged small-scale farmers as large corporations like the United Fruit Company moved in. The new industry had a domino effect. More land was cleared for plantations, more workers were hired, and more land had to be cleared to support banana workers. About 20% of annual deforestation during this time was due to banana cultivation.
Coffee and bananas dominated the Costa Rican economy until the advent of the beef cattle industry in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Zebu cattle, introduced from Asia, were found to be nearly perfectly adapted to tropical climates. This discovery, along with the U.S.’s expanding market for beef for fast food franchises, fueled Costa Rica’s rise to Central America’s largest beef producer. It held this title in 1986, producing 89 million tons of beef, 36 million of which was exported, 96% of which went to the U.S. This meant that little Costa Rica was providing 9.8% of the U.S.’s beef annually. It created extreme economic dependence on the U.S. as well as systematic deforestation in order to create pastureland.
All of this economic development meant that by 1980, almost a third of Costa Rica had been converted to pastureland, and the country was losing 4% of its forest every year. This was faster than anywhere else in the western hemisphere, including the famous Amazon rainforests; between 1940 and 1987, Costa Rica lost half of its forest cover.
Thankfully, as conservation and environmental efforts gained support and momentum in the late 20th century, much of Costa Rica’s forest landscape has come under protection, and the country is up to 52% forest cover (compared to 21% in 1987). Reserves like Children’s Eternal Rainforest often include land that, just a few decades ago, was used for agriculture and has now regenerated to beautiful secondary forest. Much of Costa Rica’s economy is also now supported by tourism, in addition to agricultural exports, which has helped in part.
Purchasing, protecting and reforesting is the first step. One of today’s biggest challenges is not new land acquisition, but rather funding the ongoing protection and conservation of Costa Rica’s existing parks and reserves. You can help support the largest of Costa Rica’s private reserves, the Children’s Eternal Rainforest, with your visit or donation.
Monika Buczak is a student at Lehigh University and completed an internship with the Monteverde Conservation League and Children’s Eternal Rainforest in 2016. Edited by Lindsay Stallcup, MCL Executive Director.