Costa Rica
The Compendium of "Studies of EIA Practice in Developing Countries" is a companion volume to the UNEP Environmental Impact Assessment Training Resource Manual. It contains a series of case studies of EIA (and elements of SEA) practice in developing and transitional countries. The case studies have been prepared by EIA specialists from developing countries to exemplify how the EIA...
An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among a campesino community in a Costa Rican montane cloud forest. Campesino families were interviewed about how they used indigenous and introduced vascular plants along an altitudinal gradient (2000–3000 m). From a total of 590 species known in the area, 23.8% of 189 useful plant species were used for medicinal purposes, 39.7% for...
One of the most important reasons for the degradation of biodiversity, in mountain areas and elsewhere, is that the people who make land use decisions often receive few or no benefits from biodiversity conservation. Understandably, therefore, they generally ignore potential biodiversity benefits when choosing land use practices. The end result is that biodiversity is often...
Biome and border identities have always been important considerations for the development of geography, especially regarding the use of applied research for biodiversity conservation. Nowhere is this more apparent than in books that are considered to represent the "state of knowledge," some of which are recognised as guides for the future work in ecosystems conservation....
This article reflects on the Costa Rican experiences with ecotourism by assessing the positive and negative environmental, economic and social impacts of ecotourism development at four tourist destinations-Manuel Antonio, Monteverde, Tortuguero and ASCOMAFOR. These destinations represent different stages of tourism development. The assessment shows that the development of ecotourism has a...
Water resources are a key environmental service. Water funds are a mechanism to link conservation of watersheds and biodiversity with water utilisation and conservation. Although there are many other environmental services, water, and water funds, can act as proxies or catalysts to protect many others including biodiversity, carbon storage, soils, biogeochemical cycles, pollination, waste...
The Nature Conservancy promote water funds to protect land and water, biodiversity, social justice and distributional justice. The institutional mechanism was established which aims to bring together water users to pay for conservation on the voluntary basis. The funds are then used for water benefits, landscape restoration, fundraising and governance. In Ecuador, Fondo para la Conservaci...
'Payments for Environmental Services' (PES) is not a new idea and has been found to be very beneficial, rewarding and cost effective as in the cases of the FONAFIFO program in Costa Rica which compensates upstream landowners for the protection of biodiversity and scenic beauty; or as in the case of New York City, USA which in 1992 entered into a PES agreement with the farmers and forestry...
Food safety standards that developed countries impose on developing-country exports have sometimes created a barrier to market access. But in Latin America today, the standards set by supermarkets in the region affect local producers far more than do those imposed by developed countries. Latin American farmers sell 2.5 times more to supermarkets within their own countries than they export to...
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