Rain Forests of
Costa Rica
By: Brandie
Winters

(“Costa Rica”, n.d.)

(Foley, n.d.)

Tropical rainforests used to cover the majority of Costa Rica, but as you can see the map above they now are mostly on the outskirts of the country (“Costa
Rica”, n.d.).

Biotic Components
Plants:
• Bamboo Orchid
• Parrot Flower
• Bananas
• Carambola
• Cocoa Trees
• Achiote
• Saragundi
• Red Button Ginger
(Kuehner, n.d.)

Animals:
• Green Basilisk
• Red Eyed Tree Frog
• Two-toed & Threetoed Sloth
• Ocelot
• Puma
• American Crocodile
• Keel-billed Toucan
• And many more
(“Costa Rica”, n.d.)

Abiotic Components
• Altitude: 0-1,000 m
ASL
• Rainfall 2,000-6,000 mm/year • Max Temperature 233
C
• Canopy Height: 40-60 m • Forest Layers: 5
• Vegetation: Evergreen
(“Costa Rica”, n.d.)

(Baker, n.d.)

• Tourists are no longer coming to Costa
Rica just to see the rainforests; they want real estate, resorts and beaches.
• This has caused additional loss of rainforest, resulting in loss of roughly half of the countries’ monkey population in just the last 12 years
• The leatherback turtle hatchlings are disoriented by the lights from the town of Tamarindo causing them to not make it out to see where they can find safety from predators (McPhaul, 2008).

Current Human Impacts

• Since 1989 only 12% of the Costa Rican
Rainforests have been protected by private reserves or by designating them national parks
(Hill, 1989).
• The forests are being cut down to make room for coffee , banana and cattle farms in addition to creating room for the growing construction industry. The demand for real estate will continue to grow as the population in Costa Rica continues to rise (Rodriguez, 2014).

Future Human Impacts

Guidelines
• There is currently a program in place in Costa Rica implemented with assistance from Conservation
International called Payment for Environmental
Services (PES).
• Allows for fair payment to farmers to restore their land instead of ruining it by farming (Rodriguez, 2014).

• Expand the PES program and finding ways to increase the 12% of protected rainforests through private investments
• Limit the amount of tourists that can enter these protected rainforests annually to protect