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Costa Rica Fact Sheet
Costa Rica is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. While the country has only about 0.1% of the world's land mass, it contains 5% of the world's biodiversity.2 The Central American country of Costa Rica, despite its small size, has high levels of biological diversity with some 12,000 species of plants, 1,239 species of butterflies, 838 species of birds, 440 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 232 species of mammals.3 Environmental concerns include deforestation, soil erosion, coastal marine pollution, solid waste management and air pollution.4 In the early 1990s, the country had one of the worst deforestation rates in Latin America.5 Costa Rica was once 99 percent forested, but forest cover has steadily diminished from 85 percent in 1940 to around 35 percent today according to the FAO's State of the World's Forests (FAO's Forest Resources Assessment says the current cover is closer to 50 percent).6 Costa Rica's concrete action to preserve its natural resources has protected 13% of its land with plans for 25% of the land to be preserved as national parkland.7 In 2000, Costa Rica earned about $1.25 billion from ecotourism, and it is estimated that 70 percent of the country's tourists visit natural protected areas.8 In 1979, the World Conference of Sea Turtles in Washington designated Ostional [National Wildlife Refuge] the second most important hatchery of sea turtles in the world.9 |
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Honduras
Living with a Honduran family, and volunteering at projects in rural locations, volunteers will assist a community in need. > Read More
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