Deforestation in Costa Rica’s Mountainous

The tropical rain forest is the most diverse ecosystem on this planet. The forest is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of these species are not found anywhere else. Unfortunately, with the ever-growing population of humans the rain forests are being cut down at a shocking rate to provide humans with lumber, pasture land, and farm land. As a result of this cutting down of trees, or deforestation, the rainforest is being destroyed. The rainforests of Costa Rica have been stripped of its sources to provide pastureland for cattle ranching. Untouched forests fell to make way for a world-wide demand for beef. According to National Geographic: Eighty percent of Earth's land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their home [2]. Deforestation has profound effects on global climate and causes the extinction of thousands of species annually. Stopping deforestation in the tropics has become an international movement and has promoted the search for ways to reverse its effects. Costa Rica's rain forest is home to large numbers of plant and animal life. This natural life is slowly diminishing as the natural habitats are vanquishing.

Deforestation, involves the cutting down, burning, and damaging of forests. In Costa Rica, most deforestation takes place because of a need for agricultural land. There are three main types of deforestation that take place in the tropical regions. In countries with poor economies, people turn to agriculture to fulfill the everyday needs of living. Poor farmers migrate to agricultural settlement areas and cut down several acres of land to use for farming. They then burn the stumps to release the nutrients into the soil needed to grow crops1. This is essential because in rainforests nearly all of the nutrients required to sustain life are found within the plants and trees, and not in the soil . This process is called slash and burn agriculture1. Since trees are being taken away, not burnt, nutrients are not released into the soil1. In poor countries, farming like this is the only way for people to survive. They raise crops to feed themselves and to sell to make money to live by. Without any trees, the nutrients are quickly washed away by rain. The farmers are forced to move to new land after already changing the landscape of the old land.

Large companies in Costa Rica clear vast amounts of land, often for cattle pastures to fill the beef market. They also use the land for large plantations and use pesticides and irrigation systems that are very damaging to the land. The chemicals they use to kill pests also kill other animals and cause a lot of damage to the surrounding areas. The rain washes the chemicals into the water system killing the marine life1. Loggers who sell timber take only certain types of trees or remove all trees in a certain area. Selective deforestation is more damaging than expected, with studies showing that selling a small number of trees in a forest can affect a great deal of trees in the surrounding area. It is very difficult for the forest to re-grow at all, because all the nutrients have been removed. Land used in these ways not affects much of the surrounding area negatively. Companies that are destroying the natural landscape in Costa Rica are destroying the earth's environment. These companies contributing to deforestation are killing species and harming the earth. Costa Rica is doing an amazing job repairing their forests and making sure areas are untouched. The effort the country is making to stop this issue is setting the example for other countries. Costa Rica is showing their commitment towards the environment and natural resource issues.

Costa Rica happens to be the first, and so far the only, tropical country in the world that has reversed a decades-long process of deforestation, dropping from 85% forest in 1940 to 35% forest by 19803. It was the one of the first countries to set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2021, and according to estimates it will be the first to reach this goal. By protecting forests instead of destroying them, Costa Rica is leading the global effort to mitigate climate change. Costa Rica is smaller than the state West Virginia in the US. Costa Rica is home to more bird species than the US and Canada combined. A large percentage of birds from North and South America migrate to Costa Rica to feed and strengthen themselves before flying home. The effects of deforestation can be catastrophic for all the creatures and insects that rely on the forest for food, habitat, and migration. When forests are extensively altered, whole ecosystems can be seriously affected. When food supplies here are insufficient species populations throughout North and South America suffer. This nation has taken advantage of this extraordinary biodiversity by creating one of the most protected widespread area systems in the world. Costa Rica accomplished this in the 1970s and 1980s, when coffee and cattle prices were good, international aid was generous, and the country could afford to buy up undeveloped wilderness. The environmental record of Costa Rica is a role model for the rest of Latin America. If conservation is going to work anywhere, experts say, it is supposed to work in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican government has taken several steps toward conserving their forest. Costa Rica's government has encouraged land owners to protect the land. This encouragement comes in the form of grants or cash payments to the land owners who sign contracts with the Ministry of Environment. Land owners are able to receive these rewards and even become capable of entering into contract with the ministry for sustainability management4. Sustainable management allows the landowners to extract only a certain number of trees from the forest and not ceases illegal deforestation, facilitating in ecological integrity4. Costa Rica's forest policy and legislation has evolved over the years. A forest administration system has been established in including both central and decentralized control functions, internal and external forest monitoring, revenue systems and innovative forest financing mechanisms5. Costa Rica's land area is considered to have forest capability, which means that most of the land should be dedicated to activities related to the management and protection of its forest, and sustainable provision of forest-related goods and services5.

The causes of deforestation are mainly related to a competitive global economy, which forces poorer countries to use their only resources for money. This happens both locally and nationally. Locally, people use land for farming to make money, due to poverty and increasing populations. Globalization in many countries has led to deforestation as many industries and factories emit carbon dioxide which affect the trees and forest. Urbanization has also led to deforestation as the country develops the cutting down of trees for the use of building materials, furniture, paper products and material used for highway and roads. Forests are also cleared in order to accommodate expanding urban areas. Trees are also cut down in developing countries to be used as firewood or turned into charcoal, which are used for cooking and heating purposes. The increase in population also means an increase in produce consumption for which the trees are being destroyed. Overpopulation in countries like China and India are a result where deforestation rate is higher than comparative countries. Climate is another factor for deforestation mainly because of acid rain. Acid rain damages the waxy outer coating that protects the leaves[]. When this happens, it allows the acid to seep into the tree[]. Instead of water changing from a liquid to a gas inside the leaves, gas is taking the place of the water. This prevents the plant from taking in carbon dioxide to perform photosynthesis, and the plant eventually dies[]. Global warming is another factor as the temperature increases than the average temperature which affects the plants growth or soil growth.

As trees and plants are cleared away, the moist canopy of the tropical rain forest quickly diminishes. Trees work to protect the ground from drying up and keep the water cycle running by returning water vapor back into the atmosphere. Evaporation and Evapotranspiration is the process that trees and plants go through to return large quantities of water to the local atmosphere, promoting the formation of clouds and precipitation. Less evaporation means that more of the Sun's energy is able to warm the surface and the air above, leading to a rise in temperatures and the drying of land1. Plants are the base of every food chain, so if they get hurt so do all the animals who depend on them. Plants can't just get up and move to a new place, they are stuck wherever they are and are therefore more susceptible to endangerment and extinction. When we destroy their habitat, we kill them too. We need animals to live because they provide us with food, clothing, and even medicine. When one species dies off, that causes other species to get hurt too because animals depend on each other for survival. Many of the animals killed as a result of deforestation are yet undiscovered. These plants and animals could hold cures for cancer or aids that may never be discovered. Animals that we do know about are also being threatened, as their habitats are destroyed and they themselves are killed too1.

Deforestation in Costa Rica's mountainous regions is one of the many serious ecological problems today. Disturbance of vegetative cover on mountain areas creates thin soil and steep slopes resulting in land unsteadiness, landslides, and soil erosion. Roads and homes that are poorly cut into hillsides and unsupported by vegetation inevitably slide. This adds on dirt to storm water runoff and pollutes rivers. Rivers turn brown after a strong rain and carry huge amounts of sediments to the ocean. This devastates freshwater and coastal fisheries as well as suffocating coral reefs with pollution. Immediate effects of deforestation include the washing away of soil in the monsoon season. This is because trees are no longer anchoring and binding the soil and so mud slides take place. The earth is leached of minerals by the large amounts of water. The lack of vegetation also means that there will be very few animals in the area. Most of the nutrients that are stored in the vegetation and the trees will be destroyed. Once the tree and plant are cut down, essential nutrients separate easily and are washed out by rainfall. We would lose the nutrients that our body needs for daily life. If the soil gets dries and cracks under the sun's heat without the shade of the trees, we can't grow any plants since it's lost the soil essentials. When rivers and natural water springs are covered by healthy forest, ecosystems are protected from hot tropical sun rays. Trees and vegetation hold rainwater in the soil like a sponge and prevent it from running rapidly over the surface of the land. Without trees and surface vegetation slowing and moving the rain deep into the earth, many underground aquifers, springs and creeks are in danger of drying up.

The Costa Rican rain forests are among the world's richest ecosystems. The problems facing Costa Rica are pressuring the government and the world leaders to help preserve the remaining rainforest. The Costa Rican government has recently begun taking action to preserve the rainforest. If the logging of rain forests continues at its present rate, the rain forests in Costa Rica will disappear before the end of this century. Costa Rica has established, and enacted critical conservation plans mandated to protect the rainforests considerably. Their plan aims at protecting more of the country to have a large forest coverage. Costa Rica earns significant revenue from ecotourism. The amount that tourism earns the country is higher than the sale of timber. Rainforests have a lot of bio-diversity and this attracts tourists. The parks that the country has are accessible and the safety standards are high. Number of tourists at the parks are restricted to avoid damage to the forests. Despite the efforts exerted by Costa Rica to protect rainforests, the country has faced numerous challenges due to deforestation

Imagine living 100 years from now. In the worst-case scenario, you won't know what rainforests are anymore. These beautiful jungles will be reduced to no more than wasteland or a dry savanna. This will cause many species to go extinct, so you will also no longer know what many animals are besides from pictures your grandparents would have shown you. Can you picture a world with no trees? That is what the future may look like if we keep up the current rate of deforestation. We take trees for granted so much. They are literally keeping us alive by providing oxygen for us to breath. We need to make sure that trees never become extinct or even endangered, and people can do that by simply planting trees. One tree doesn't seem like a lot but think if everyone on earth planted a tree. We would have more than 7 billion trees planted. What if everyone did that once a year? In 10 years we would have planted over 70 billion trees.

It is important to know that just like other decision-makers around the world, even Costa Rica's leaders are faced with challenges and difficult decisions in the coming years. Although Costa Rica has celebrated a tremendous achievement in reversing deforestation trends. The rainforests in Costa Rica are magnificent, unique, and diverse areas on our precious Earth. I've been there myself to see the wonders of the environmentally friendly country.

If something is not done to stop the effects of deforestation, we may lose animals, plants, and possibilities for cures to diseases that are killing off our own race. We must come together to devise a plan that is best suited for businesses, governments, and most importantly the environment. We need to do something about this issue by either planting trees or not buying products that are made of them. If we help trees we are helping ourselves and the whole planet.

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