What are the Natural Resources of Costa Rica?

The Natural resources of Costa Rica Are the use of soil, wilderness areas, water resources and mining.

Costa Rica is a country of Central America, is located to the South of Nicaragua and to the North of Panama. It is considered as one of the most diverse places on the planet with living organisms, since with an area of ​​51,100 km ² , Only 0.03% of the terrestrial surface, houses 4% of the species. (Rodriguez, 2011, CIA, 2015).

Ugalde et al. (2009) distinguish 5 bioregions in the country (Figure 1), which are defined by elevation and climatic conditions. These are:

• North Pacific (PN), with annual precipitation between 1,000 and 2,000 mm and temperatures between 18 and 34 ° C.
• South Pacific which has slightly lower rainfall and higher temperatures compared to PN.
• Vertiente Caribe, defined by persistent rainfall throughout the year and high temperatures, which produces high humidity.
• Middlelands, at elevations between 700 and 1700 masl, characterized by cool temperatures ranging between 18 and 30 ° C.
• Highlands, in elevations greater than 1700 msnm where we find cloud forests and colder temperatures.

Figure 1. The North Pacific, Southern Pacific and Caribbean slope bioregions are found in lowland (Ugalde et al., 2009).

The great biological diversity of Costa Rica is due to its position between two large land masses, its irregular topography and its tropical climate. It is estimated that this country has about 11,000 species of plants, of which 9555 were already known in 2006 (Rodríguez, 2011).

In addition, 1,239 species of butterflies, 205 species of mammals, 850 species of birds and more than 100,000 species of invertebrates have been recorded (Vaughan, 1993).

One factor that gives even greater importance to Costa Rica's wildlife is the fact that most of the species present are threatened or threatened with extinction (Figure 2).

Percentage of vertebrate and plant species with threatened and endangered populations (Rodríguez, 2011).

Use of soil

The main agricultural products of Costa Rica are bananas, coffee, sugar and beef. Agroforestry or agroforestry is commonly practiced by combining one or more crops such as coffee ( Coffea arabica L .), Cocoa ( Theobroma cacao L ), Or sugarcane (Saccharum cvs L.) with shade of native trees to increase yield and improve soil conditions (Somarriba and Beer, 1987).

In terms of livestock, the main product of Costa Rica is cattle. Chacon (2015) mentions that in the country there are a total of 93,017 farms, of which 37,171 have cattle for meat production (42.1%), milk production (25.6%) and dual purpose (32%). It should be noted that the livestock sector contributes 28.59% of the country's total greenhouse gas emissions. (Chacon and Quesada, 2015).

Ecotourism

In the last century, Costa Rica experienced one of the highest rates of deforestation among countries in the world, mainly due to the transformation of native forests into agricultural fields, the country lost half of its forest cover between 1950 and 1990.

In the early 1990s, only 6 percent of the country's land area was intact. However, this trend reversed with the growth of a system of national parks, which in the last decades have preserved more than 10 percent of the country's primary forests (Chase, 1998).

In theory, the most prominent direct environmental benefit of ecotourism is its incentive value for the preservation of natural and semi-natural environments (Weaver, 1999).

At present, Costa Rica has more than two dozen national parks, reserves and wildlife refuges distributed throughout the country (see Fig. 1). Costa Rica had a huge expansion in foreign tourism between 1987 and 1993, as foreign tourists visited Costa Rica's national parks by almost 500 percent (Menkhaus and Lober, 1996).

Wild protected areas

The protected areas of Costa Rica have been very important in the current development of the country since they have encouraged tourism. They have also provided ecosystem services through conservation of native ecosystems, improved infrastructure in remote areas, provided opportunities for environmental education, and reduced poverty in surrounding communities (Andam et al., 2010).

However, some environmental impacts derived from ecotourism, such as pollution, habitat modification, social impacts and cultural deterioration are recognized. Despite potential negative impacts, many countries such as Costa Rica have adopted ecotourism as a source of economic development (Boza, 1993).

In Costa Rica, the Wild Protected Areas System is composed of 169 areas (Figure 3) covering 26.21% of the continental continental territory and 0.09% of the marine extension (SINAC 2009). Most of the area under conservation is under the management of NP, which constitute 12% of the country (Boza, 1993).

Figure 3. Protected Wild Areas of Costa Rica (SINAC, 2009).

Energy

Costa Rica does not currently produce oil, and apart from the smaller coal deposits, no other sources of fossil fuel have been discovered. However, Costa Rica is located in one of the rainiest areas of the planet and the water resources of the abundant rains have allowed the construction of several hydroelectric plants, which has made it self sufficient in all energy needs, except oil products For transport. (Velasco, 2002)

Mining

The first historical record of gold was in 1820 in the mining district esparza and mounts of Avocado. The first systematic exploitation of gold was presented in Rio Carate in 1978. In the Santa Elena mine, lead and silver were produced until 1933. (Villalata, 1986). The extraction of gold is one of the most destructive and polluting activities, which is why in 2002 Costa Rica banned the exploitation of new open-pit gold mines (Cederstav 2002).

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, Costa Rica is a country that has opted for a more sustainable development through ecotourism and the preservation of its natural resources. However, it still has many challenges ahead, such as the protection of its threatened species and the recovery of many natural areas fragmented by the bad practices of the past.

References

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