Costa Rica: Contemporary Environmental Issue

Biodiversity is the biodiversity of specific habitats or ecosystems. Costa Rica is in the tropical rainforest biome where there are more species than any other biome on the planet. There are several theories which explain why it has such big biodiversity. Some say that this is because tropical rainforests provide lots of habitats and niches. Another hypothesis is that since Costa Rica is close to the equator, it does not freeze, it provides more time for species to evolve.

According to the 2010 Environmental Performance Index, Costa Rica is No. 3 in the world and No. 1 in the Americas. The New Economic Foundation (NEF) made Costa Rica the happiest country in the world in 2009 and 2012. The same organization (NEF) ranks Costa Rica as the most "green" country in the world. Among low-budget travelers and increasingly popular tourists, Costa Rica is rated in Central America, perhaps the most expensive country in Latin America. Entry fee for wine, chocolate, coffee, and national parks is higher compared to Western European and North American prices.

Despite environmental rhetoric and protection laws, Costa Rica's deforestation record is poor. In the early 1990s, this country was one of the most serious deforestation rates in Latin America. According to FAO's "Current status of world forests", FAO's forest resource evaluation shows that the current coverage rate is close to 50%, but Costa Rica once had a forest coverage of 99%. About 35%. Historically, the biggest factor in the destruction of the rainforest in Costa Rica is the cleaning of agriculture (mainly coffee and banana) and meadow. Between the 1970s and the early 1980s, big tropical rainforests were burned into beef farms, but when the largest Central American beef importer in the United States ceases importing beef, Costa Rica has millions of acres of clean land And many cows left.