Deforestation in Costa Rica

By: Felipe De La Hormaza, Mathias Lahmann,

Camila Ramos and María José Valenciano
 Table of contents

Introduction.....3
Causes of Deforestation.....4,5
Effects of Deforestation....6
Protected Areas.....7,8
What will Happened in the Future....9
Animals Affected by Deforestation...
10,11
Conclusion......12
Glossary.....13
References....14,15,16
Video link....17

2
 Introduction
Deforestation is a major problem all around the world,
and it is also a big problem in Costa Rica. Did you know
that this country has a large population of fauna and
flora, that every day they have a threat of loosing their
live’s or existence because of deforestation. Even though
this country has lots of protected areas all around it,
animals are in danger of getting extinct. If animals go
extinct and forests disappear, so are the humans that
depend in the resources they produce.

3
 Causes of Deforestation
Deforestation is a problem all around the world, and Costa Rica is facing
it too. There are many causes why deforestation is happening daily,
some of the main causes in Costa Rica are: Plantation farms and
population growth. For the past 20 years Costa Rica have been
deforested by locals and foreigners, these people convert many forests
into mono-crop and real state development. Logging companies also
do a big part of deforestation in Costa Rica. Grazing lands are one of
the major causes of deforestation. Deforestation in Costa Rica began
around 1970 when farmers (cattle raisers) burnt forests to obtain meat
to have multi-national companies like Burger King and Wendy’s.
Banana plantations also add up to all the human impact on deforestation.

This is deforested land,

used for agriculture.

4
 Causes of Deforestation
This deforested area will eventually become a farm or some kind of
building or private land. Not all deforestation in Costa Rica is intentional,
some unintentional deforestation is caused by natural factors (sometimes
caused my human impact) and natural disasters, some of them are
volcanic eruption and landslides. When all of these causes are added up,
there are a big amount of forests in Costa Rica that are deforested every
year.

This is a
landslide, an
example of
unintentional
deforestation.
The landslide
carries away
trees with it.

5
Effects of Deforestation in Costa Rica
For decades people have been cutting down trees. This terrible action is
occurring at an alarming rate. Many people have died because of trying to
protect trees. Our beautiful rainforests are being cut down just for the needs of
making money, lumber, pasture land and farm land. This affects native animals
of the area. The animals are decreasing because of deforestation. Deforestation
in poor economies is because of the need of money and they turn to
agriculture as a solution. The main reason for deforestation in Costa Rica is
the demand for agricultural land. Even if someone cut a little amount of trees it
can be damaging to the whole area. This can affect a whole ecosystem, then a
whole country, then a continent and at last the world.

In this photograph
you can see a
deforested forest.

6
 Protected Areas
In Costa Rica there are a lot of protected areas. This country is the house of
160 different protected areas. These areas are dedicated to protecting the
environment and priceless national treasures of Costa Rica and Central
America. There are 28 National Parks and two of them are Marine Parks.
That means that the protection expands to the sea. Also there are 58 Wildlife
Refuges and 32 protected zones. Costa Rica’s National Parks System
covers 25% of the territory. This is a very big number for Wildlife Refuges
and Nature Reserves for a very small country like Costa Rica!

This is the red

eye frog of
Costa Rica
7
 Protected Areas
Costa Rica is home of 10,000 species of plants and trees. Is also home to
over 850 native and migrant birds and 205 species of mammals. Over
35,000 species of insects, 160 species of amphibians, 220 species of
reptiles and around 1,013 species of saltwater and fresh fish.

MM
M
This is a
beautiful forest
in Costa Rica.
Let’s not cut
the trees of
this forest, to
keep it as it is!

8
 What will Happened in the Future?
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Do you ask yourself what will happen in the future with no trees, no clean air, only
carbon dioxide if we continue to cut trees? About 20,000 acres of land are cut in a year
that’s about 80.9 square kilometers. If we cut trees, people may eventually die because
people will not have some food and clean air or oxygen to breathe. Now we have some
protected areas and people can’t cut trees in those parts. Let’s stop cutting trees! If you
cut trees many animals will be without homes. Remember, all the factories that throw
polluting smoke into the air, the trees breathe pollutants and give us back clean air. But,
with no trees all the air will be dirty or polluted. So don’t cut down trees! So we can have
clean air in our lives.

Did you
know that
forests are
the lounges
of the
earth? 9
 Animals Affected by Deforestation
There are many animals that suffer because of deforestation in Costa Rica. The Giant Anteater is
one of the animals that may become extinct because of the act of deforestation. The Giant Anteater
was last spotted in Corcovado National Park almost twenty years ago.

The hummingbird one of the fastest birds This is a

hummingbird, you
in Costa Rica is also affected by deforestation, can see a large
variety of them in
there are more than 50 species of hummingbirds Costa Rica.

in our country. The flowers these birds use for

food are destroyed, also their homes in the trees.

Jaguars are also a great animal that are left without a home and food because of deforestation.
When their homes are deforested the animals that they eat are also killed or have moved away to
another place to find shelter and food. This leaves jaguars only one choice, to go to the farmers land
and actually risk being killed, only a few have the chance to run away.

When forests are cut down frogs are left with no food and shelter. Trees with hollows are very
rare in forests, hollows are one of the few homes of frogs, in hollows frogs survive, breed, take care of
their eggs and have a shelter to survive. When forests are cut down, hollows are reduced, this means
frogs have less homes and may become extinct!

10
 The jaguar is in danger of becoming
extinct. This is a Jaguar in Costa Rica.

This is a Giant Ant eater in

Costa Rica’s forests.

Gladiator Tree
Frog

Clown Frog

Blue
Jeans
Frog

Red Eye Frog 11

 Conclusion
Forests are an amazing example of pure beauty, they give us
many recourses we need for living. Some of the main reasons
we need to keep our forests clean and healthy are that they
give us elements that all living things need to survive, some of
them are fresh air and food. People cut about 43,200 trees
a day! Forests are essential, but humans are not keeping them
safe. If we keep deforesting our forests in the future we might
have big trouble with fresh, clean air. Let’s keep forests all
around the world standing for a long time. We can help by
doing little things each day like recycling, not wasting paper,
reusing and most importantly reducing. Let’s make a change!

12
 Glossary
GgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgGgG

Convert: Cause to change in form, character, or function.

Decade: A period of ten years.

Deforestation: The act of cutting down trees.

Grazing land: Grassland suitable for pasturage.

Hollow: A hole or empty space inside a tree. Convert: Cause to change in

form, character, or function.

Refugees: A condition of being safe or sheltered from danger or trouble.

Mono-crop: A cultivated crop that does not rotate with other crops in a
particular field or area.

National Park: An area protected by the federal government to preserve

wildlife.

Priceless: So precious that the value cannot be determined.

13
 References

http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/fieldcourses06/
PapersCostaRicaArticles/EffectsofDeforestationonC.html

http://www.ticotimes.net/2011/05/27/in-costa-rica-the-fight-to-save-the-hunted-
jaguars/

http://costarica-information.com/nature/national-parks-other-protected-areas

https://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/our-science/no_trees_no_humans/

https://makeadifferencedeforestation.weebly.com/what-will-happen-in-the-future.html/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19341340

http://www.ticotimes.net/2017/10/05/tropical-storm-causes-deaths-flooding-costa-
rica-region

14
 Photo’s References
https://news.mongabay.com/2012/09/app-establishes-deforestation-moratorium-in-jambi-
greens-remain-skeptical/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/58687601369377137/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/291045194645774414/

https://www.smore.com/50ncb-tourism-effect-on-costa-rica

http://www.communitycarbontrees.org/rainforest-deforestation

https://sites.google.com/site/imperialisminindia/home/deforestation

https://www.travelexcellence.com/costa-rica-attractions

https://musicofnature.com/

https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/spot-sloths-costa-rica/

15
https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/hummingbirds-of-costa-rica/9/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/156640893267786908

http://www.destination360.com/central-america/costa-rica/costa-rican-frog

https://travel.mongabay.com/costa_rica/images/costa-rica-d_0180.html

http://imperioreptil.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=6

http://www.costaricajourneys.com/the-jaguar/

https://news.co.cr/costa-ricas-return-forest-midst-latin-americas-deforestation/60212/
#foto1

16
 Video link
llllll

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZCpORzNujI

17